Anti-suicide barriers on Japanese train lines
From TokyoMango: "Newer train lines in Japan have suicide prevention platforms. 5-foot walls span the entire platform, with doors that only open when the train has safely stopped at the station. Jumping in front of a moving train is one of the most common suicide methods in Japan—it was, at least, until people started spreading information on how to gas themselves at home." Suicide prevention train platforms
the latest
latest episodes
Helium, while expensive and rare, works best. It's better than 'taking the gas pipe'. Safe for the neighbors, and the pets and children, too.
Are the suicidal in Japan so polite they wouldn't think of jumping over the low wall?
I thought they have those gates because the crowds on the platforms get so full it keeps people from being pushed onto the tracks.
Wow. Someone killing themselves would totally be deterred by a three foot wall. How inconvenient!
These are not "anti-suicide" barriers. Anyone who really wants to kill themselves could still simply hop over this barrier, so it's not "anti-suicide" in any way. Just barriers that help prevent people from accidentally falling onto the tracks, as train platforms here in Tokyo can be very narrow in places and are often over-crowded. This person's post should say that newer train lines in Tokyo have these barriers, rather than saying in Japan. Kyoto's tiny subway has had barrier from floor to ceiling at most stations for years.
Are they putting this in on the Lex. Ave. line at the Wall St. Station?
@5 I LOL'ed.
I think the other posts are correct -- this isn't a suicide barrier, but a safety precaution for when the platform gets crowded. I think most people who want to commit suicide by train go outside the "downtown" areas of Tokyo. The express trains go faster out there.
These also popped up in Waterloo station on the London underground. Except there, they form a full seal from floor to ceiling, and have doors that only open when the train doors do.
They actually do work to make it seem a little bit safer (and quieter, and less windy).
The preferred choice of suicide location is at the many level crossings you find all over the capital. The real anti-suicide by jumping in front of a train measure is that the families of the deceased are fined in RIAA proportions for the inconvenience caused. Just last Saturday when I was trying to get the last train home from Shinagawa, the train was held up for a good hour thanks to somebody's selfishness. A special place in hell for those that jump I tell you.
Definitely not anti-suicide barriers. And definitely not "newer" - these started going up in the early 2000s as I remember. Can anyone confirm when these started going up?
I can't find any stats on suicide-by-train rates annually - help anyone?
I did find this 2004 article which indicates that the majority of Japanese suicides occur in rural areas like Hokkaido:
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Japan/FG28Dh01.html
"Like a virulent biblical plague, for the past seven years suicide has ravaged Japanese society, especially rural areas. Hiroshi Sakamoto, a retired local-government official and volunteer suicide councilor, bitterly blames the government for the current crisis. He told Asia Times Online, "Suicide has caused so much pain and damage to the less economically developed regions of Japan. Yet the government has done nothing. It feels like Tokyo just doesn't care about people living in small cities and towns. We simply don't count because we don't live in big cities. Regions like Hokkaido have been decimated by the recession. "
Train jumping is so 2007. Hydrogen sulfide offers the opportunity to kill your annoying parents as well as yourself. Train jumping merely inconveniences thousands of commuters.
If those are "5-foot walls," then a couple of those Japanese people are over 7 feet tall. Yikes.
In Hong Kong we have ceiling to floor glass walls and doors that open only when the train has stopped. From what I've heard, they were installed to prevent the station's cool air being swept away into the tunnels with each train, thus saving on air conditioning bills. Suicide (rare by train in HK? - I don't recall any incidents in the last 10 years) prevention was just a bonus.
Not to belabor this whole thing, but perhaps the popularity of the film SUICIDE CIRCLE and it's many knock-offs have subtly raised our collective unconscious of the suicide-by-train phenomenon in Tokyo.
On a lighter note: Great and bizarre horror flick. I was lucky enough to see it when it came out.
For those who have seen it - funny and disturbing story: I was running late, so I burst out of the train, jogged along the platform, emerged on the street, got to the theater, and found a seat just in time for the opening scene. The station I had just jogged from moments earlier was Shinjuku. As you can imagine, I've never experienced a movie in quite that way before - and now am scarred for life :/
@14 i agree, great movie
a-one and a-two and...
The director of "Suicide Club" is Sion Sono, who will also be directing a narrative feature film based on the Feral House book, "Lords of Chaos." Shooting will take place this coming Spring in Oslo and Bergen, Norway. I had the pleasure of co-writing the script...
from Hearn:
"He was young, earnest, and extremely handsome--very much too handsome for a priest, the women said. He looked like one of
those beautiful figures of Amida made by the great Buddhist statuaries of other days.
The men of his parish thought him a pure and learned priest, in which they were right. The women did not think about his virtue
or his learning only: he possessed the unfortunate power to attract them, independently of his own will, as a mere man. He
was admired by them, and even by women of other parishes also, in ways not holy; and their admiration interfered with his studies
and disturbed his meditations. They found irreproachable pretexts for visiting the temple at all hours, just to look at him and
talk to him; asking questions which it was his duty to answer, and making religious offerings which he could not well refuse.
Some would ask questions, not of a religious kind, that caused him to blush. He was by nature too gentle to protect himself by severe speech, even when forward girls from the city said things
that country-girls never would have said,--things that made him tell the speakers to leave his presence. And the more he shrank from the admiration of the timid, or the adulation of the
unabashed, the more the persecution increased, till it became the torment of his life.
His parents had long been dead; he had no worldly ties: he loved only his calling, and the studies belonging to it; and he did not wish to think of foolish and forbidden things. His extraordinary
beauty--the beauty of a living idol--was only a misfortune. Wealth was offered him under conditions that he could not even
discuss. Girls threw themselves at his feet, and prayed him in vain to love them. Love-letters were constantly being sent to him, letters which never brought a reply. Some were written in
that classical enigmatic style which speaks of "the Rock-Pillow: of Meeting," and "waves on the shadow of a face," and "streams
that part to reunite." Others were artless and frankly tender, full of the pathos of a girl's first confession of love. For a long time such letters left the young priest as unmoved, to
outward appearance, as any image of that Buddha in whose likeness he seemed to have been made. But, as a matter of fact, he was not
a Buddha, but only a weak man; and his position was trying. One evening there came to the temple a little boy who gave him a
letter, whispered the name of the sender, and ran away in the dark. According to the subsequent testimony of an acolyte, the priest read the letter, restored it to its envelope, and placed
it on the matting, beside his kneeling cushion. After remaining motionless for a long time, as if buried in thought, he sought his writing-box, wrote a letter himself, addressed it to his
spiritual superior, and left it upon the writing-stand. Then he consulted the clock, and a railway time-table in Japanese. The hour was early; the night windy and dark. He prostrated himself
for a moment in prayer before the altar; then hurried out into the blackness, and reached the railway exactly in time to kneel down in the middle of the track, facing the roar and rush of the express from Kobe. And, in another moment, those who had worshiped the strange beauty of the man would have shrieked to see, even by lantern-light, all that remained of his poor earthliness, smearing the iron way.
The letter written to his superior was found. It contained a bare statement to the effect that, feeling his spiritual strength departing from him, he had resolved to die in order that he might
not sin.
The other letter was still lying where he had left it on the floor,--a letter written in that woman-language of which every syllable is a little caress of humility. Like all such letters
(they are never sent through the post) it contained no date, no
name, no initial, and its envelope bore no address. Into our incomparably harsher English speech it might be imperfectly rendered as follows:--
To take such freedom may be to assume overmuch; yet I feel that I must speak to you, and therefore send this letter. As for my
lowly self, I have to say only that when first seeing you in the period of the Festival of the Further Shore, I began to think; and that since then I have not, even for a moment, been able to
forget. More and more each day I sink into that ever-growing thought of you; and when I sleep I dream; and when, awaking and
seeing you not, I remember there was no truth in my thoughts of the night, I can do nothing but weep. Forgive me that, having been born into this world a woman, I should utter my wish for the
exceeding favor of being found not hateful to one so high. Foolish and without delicacy I may seem in allowing my heart to be thus tortured by the thought of one so far above me. But only because knowing that I cannot restrain my heart, out of the depth of it I have suffered these poor words to come, that I may write them with my unskillful brush, and send them to you. I pray that you will deem me worthy of pity; I beseech that you will not send me cruel words in return. Compassionate me, seeing that this is but the overflowing of my humble feelings; deign to divine and justly to judge,--be it only with the least of kindliness,--this heart that, in its great distress alone, so ventures to address you. Each moment I shall hope and wait for some gladdening
answer_.
Concerning all things fortunate, felicitation_.
To-day,--
from the honorably-known,
to the longed-for, beloved, august one,
this letter goes._
Actors in Japan often exercise a similar fascination upon sensitive girls of the lower classes, and often take cruel advantage of the power so gained. It is very rarely, indeed, that
such fascination can be exerted by a priest.
I called upon a Japanese friend, a Buddhist scholar, to ask some questions about the religious aspects of the incident. Even as a
confession of human weakness, that suicide appeared to me a heroism.
3361:
It did not so appear to my friend. He spoke words of rebuke. He reminded me that one who even suggested suicide as a means of escape from sin had been pronounced by the Buddha a spiritual
outcast,--unfit to live with holy men. As for the dead priest, he had been one of those whom the Teacher called fools. Only a fool could imagine that by destroying his own body he was destroying
also within himself the sources of sin. "But," I protested, "this man's life was pure.... Suppose he sought death that he might not, unwittingly, cause others to commit sin?"
My friend smiled ironically. Then he said:--"There was once a
lady of Japan, nobly torn and very beautiful, who wanted to become a nun. She went to a certain temple, and made her wish known. But the high-priest said to her, 'You are still very
young. You have lived the life of courts. To the eyes of worldly men you are beautiful; and, because of your face, temptations to return to the pleasures of the world will be devised for you. Also this wish of yours may be due to some momentary sorrow. Therefore, I cannot now consent to your request.' But she still pleaded so earnestly, that he deemed it best to leave her
abruptly. There was a large hibachi--a brazier of glowing charcoal--in the room where she found herself alone. She heated the iron tongs of the brazier till they were red, and with them horribly pierced and seamed her face, destroying her beauty forever. Then the priest, alarmed by the smell of the burning, returned in haste, and was very much grieved by what he saw. But she pleaded again, without any trembling in her voice: 'Because I was beautiful, you refused to take me. Will you take me now?' She was accepted into the Order, and became a holy nun.... Well,
which was the wiser, that woman, or the priest you wanted to praise?"
"But was it the duty of the priest," I asked, "to disfigure his face?"
"Certainly not! Even the woman's action would have been very unworthy if done only as a protection against temptation. Self- mutilation of any sort is forbidden by the law of Buddha; and
she transgressed. But, as she burned her face only that she might be able to enter at once upon the Path, and not because afraid of being unable by her own will to resist sin, her fault was a minor fault. On the other hand, the priest who took his own life committed a very great offense. He should have tried to convert those who tempted him. This he was too weak to do. If he felt it
impossible to keep from sinning as a priest, then it would have been better for him to return to the world, and there try to follow the law for such as do not belong to the Order."
"According to Buddhism, therefore, he has obtained no merit?" I queried:
"It is not easy to imagine that he has. Only by those ignorant of the Law can his action be commended." "And by those knowing the Law, what will be thought of the results, the karma of his act?" My friend mused a little; then he said, thoughtfully:--"The whole truth of that suicide we cannot fully know. Perhaps it was not the first time." "Do you mean that in some former life also he may have tried to escape from sin by destroying his own body?"
"Yes. Or in many former lives. "What of his future lives?"
"Only a Buddha could answer that with certain knowledge."
"But what is the teaching?"
"You forget that it is not possible for us to know what was in the mind of that man."
"Suppose that he sought death only to escape from sinning?"
"Then he will have to face the like temptation again and again, and all the sorrow of it, and all the pain, even for a thousand times a thousand times, until he shall have learned to master himself. There is no escape through death from the supreme necessity of self-conquest."
After parting with my friend, his words continued to haunt me; and they haunt me still. They forced new thoughts about some theories hazarded in the first part of this paper. I have not yet been able to assure myself that his weird interpretation of the amatory mystery is any less worthy of consideration than our Western interpretations. I have been wondering whether the loves that lead to death might not mean much more than the ghostly hunger of buried passions. Might they not signify also the inevitable penalty of long-forgotten sins?"
SMASM @ 13
I just read an article in the SCMP last weekend that said that the number of deaths by train in HK have gone down.
OK, -just searched. It was in the Sept. 21st ed. of the SCMP, p. 4. Byline= Simon Parry.
***************
"Suicides on Hong Kong's railway lines have declined by more than half since platform screen doors were installed at MTR stations, an expert study has found.
The number of people jumping to their deaths in front of trains annually has dropped from 10.2 to 4.4 in the five years since the barriers began to be put up across the station network. Platform screen doors should now be installed at all MTR stations "without any delay", said the University
of Hong Kong academics who carried out the survey."
******************
When they first installed them, I didn't like them, because they cut off a few seconds in exiting the train. But, I've gotten used to it now.
Just for a bit of perspective: Japan has somewhere over 30,000 suicides every year.
The suicide rate in Japan is about 2.5 times that in the United States - and that without any firearms.
The suicide rate correlates extremely highly with the unemployment rate - highly, as in r=.92 for men (in a letter in Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences from 2006).
#9 Coal, I agree, jumping in front of a train will cause a lot of delays. Perhaps it'll be better to wait until night time and quietly lie down with your neck on one of the tracks. Wear dark clothes and bring a blanket so the driver do not see you.
@#9 Coal:
Just last Saturday when I was trying to get the last train home from Shinagawa, the train was held up for a good hour thanks to somebody's selfishness. A special place in hell for those that jump I tell you.
Some poor Joe got desperate enough to take his own life, which delayed your train for an hour, and you send them to a special place in hell. Who's more selfish here?
Every time I hear some Eikaiwa tool in Tokyo talk about how they're late because "this dickhead jumped in front of the train", I want to punch them in the face.
I don't know if those barriers are anti-suicide or just safety barriers, but they serve both purposes. But they're not new in Japan and other countries have them too.
#23 There's a sort of Godwin's Law that applies to online discussions of suicide. Instead of a Hitler card, it's the "what a selfish asshole" card.
But there are other cards whose probability of being played approaches 1 as the discussion lengthens. Like the "suicide is always the product of mental illness, how insensitive can you be?" card.
Just so you know, train drivers who (inevitably) end the life of a suicide victim are terribly damaged.
Trains do not stop. With brakes full on, there is nothing that the driver can do but watch he fails his duty and ends a life.
Friends of mine are Psychologists and Councilors, and they tell horror stories of how the drivers are affected by this.
Not only that, over the course of a career, almost all drivers will have this happen to them not once but probably several times.
I have always thought suicide a monstrously selfish act, and this method is (IMNHO) one of the worst of all.
Platform barriers (especially the floor to ceiling kind) are often used on train lines where the train runs automatically without a driver (or any on-train personnel). I don't know if that's the case in Japan, but it could be the reason for a lot of other similar systems. In Helsinki, there are plans to convert the metro system to be driverless, and this type of barrier/door system is part of the plans.
Not 5-foot walls -- well less than 1.5 meters.
More like suicide-inconvenence walls. But if it helps prevention, good for them.
We have barriers on some London Underground platforms too - but they are far too tall to climb over. Just for safety, not suicides.
Several stations in the superb Paris Metro have full platform barriers (floor to ceiling, even a tunnel). Much less noisy and of course safer.
I doubt the barriers are anti-suicide, more likely just safety barriers to prevent people falling onto the tracks when the platform is crowded.
And like others have posted, the Jubilee line on the London underground has had these sort of barriers for years:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nataliejohnson/1331990609
Singapore subways in 1989 was where I first saw floor-to-ceiling barriers. At the time, I associated the phenomenon with the dictatorship, and the elevators that locked you in if they detected pee... i.e. the government wants to control your life so much that it will prevent you from exiting it. Since then, I've seen the same design routinely on airport shuttle trains 'round the world including the comparatively-primitive U.S.
What BraincellJupiter said in #4. From my visit to Japan last year, it was my distinct impression that these barriers are only at the most busy subway stations (ground-to-ceiling in some cases). Most stations have no barriers at all.
Full barriers at Harajuku (I think), waist-high barriers at Shinjuku, no barriers at Motomachi, Yokohama.
Takuan,
That was great, and I've just found a new author as a result. Thanks.
@31 "comparatively-primitive U.S." quote of the year...
Just stopped in to ensure that Suicide Circle (Club) was adequately referenced. I see that #14 got it. I can now leave satisfied.
Here's a full-length safety door in South Korea's subway system (not all stations had these which leads me to believe it was intended to prevent an accidental push during busy subway times).
Not the track, stupid. Use the booth!
"You are now dead. Thank you for using Stop and Drop, America's favorite Suicide Booth since 2008. "
Now that's civilized.
---Futurama
All jokes aside, does anyone actually wonder what the major contributor to this issue? I was working in Japan a few weeks ago and I experienced the following -
1) A person jumped out of a building and landed on the ground around 10 meters behind me in while I was doing a push bike ride tour in Tokyo. I checked his pulse and he was dead. The police confirmed suicide. The sound is still etched in my mind.
2) The intense work culture, massive hours, minimal work life balance with huge pressure.
Could the two be related?
Is it a cultural thing?
I guess I'm looking for answers having experienced such a tragedy.
BTW, I'm renewing my CPR course. Have you?
Why is the suicide rate in Japan so high?
Rebelrob, if only you'd be a little closer you could have broken his fall and saved him. Try harder next time!
#38 RebelRob:
I don't understand the connection to renewing one's CPR certification. You checked his pulse and "he was dead". Did you want to start CPR but couldn't remember how? Did you attempt CPR on this person or was it obviously useless?
(Not criticizing, I know CPR and wouldn't do it on a stranger without a barrier device.)
@feralman - Wow! Glad to know it - Can't wait and congratulations on getting such a talented director to use your work!
What everyone else said - these are just for safety, to prevent accidents. They're pretty common worldwide - they have them on the newer Jubilee Line stations on the London Underground, for example.
These would be nice to have at the Addison Blue Line stop on Chicago's El.
That thin little platform makes me want to skip to safely-underground Belmont in high winds.
Darren @41: Because the guy died not 10 metres from RebelRob. You don't have that happen without being shaken, without wanting to affirm your will to cheat Death of his prey any chance you can. You can't stop people leaping from buildings, but maybe you'll have the chance to save someone using nothing more than your hands and lungs.
Darren @41: Because as I watched the ambos do cardio from the guys back (and not from his chest) as he landed face down, I thought "I should have known I could have done that".
I hope you never find yourself asking yourself the question, "I could of saved that kid's/mothers/cousin's life only if I acted on that boing boing post and got off my ass and learnt CPR..."
All this talk about suicide is absurd: the fact is, these are not anti-suicide barriers. What they are, is labor-saving safety devices.
Typical Japanese train platforms always have an train-company employee -- usually wearing white gloves and holding a wireless microphone hooked up to the PA system -- whose job it is is to watch the platforms to see that nobody is too close to the edge where they'd be hit by an incoming train. There's a whole ritual, where the employee checks the tracks, checks the doors, and then makes a hand signal to the train driver to go. These barriers, basically eliminate the need for that position.
These barriers have been put up for years on the newest train lines throughout Tokyo ever since I've been here, and they simply save the cost of having a station agent on the platform.
Further proof: my local station is Musashi-Kosugi, which serves both the older Tokyu Toyoko Line and the newer Mita/Namboku lines. On the right side of the inbound platform are the barriers; on the left side it's completely open -- and is that way for as long as the two sets of lines run parallel (they finally split off at Den-En-Chofu).
As a suicide prevention barrier, it seems rather absurd, don't you think, since all a would-be suicide needs to do if stymied by the Mita Line platform barrier would be to turn around and walk across the platform to the open edge of the Toyoko Line.