Suicide in Japan
日本的自杀事件
Death be not proud
自豪不再的自杀行为
May 1st 2008 | TOKYO
2008年5月1日| 东京
From The Economist print edition
摘自《经济学人》印刷版
A rash of suicides horrifies Japan
自杀事件接二连三，日本民众惊心不安
“DO NOT open! Gas being created!” Written in red felt-tip pen and affixed to a door, they are among the last words of a 14-year-old Japanese schoolgirl, who took her life on April 23rd. The warning followed the advice of a website that also provided instructions for creating hydrogen-sulphide gas by mixing toilet-bowl cleaner with bath salts.
"千万不可打开！里面正在制造毒气！”这句用红色毡头笔书写的并贴在门上的警告却赫然出现在一位年仅14岁的日本女学生的遗言之中，此女于4月23日自杀。这一警告是按照一家网站的建议所写，该网站声称：马桶清净剂同浴盐混合可产生硫化氢气体，并提供了制作说明书。
This simple method of suicide claimed some 60 lives in April—mainly of people in their teens or 20s—and around another 20 earlier this year. The colourless, pungent gas does not dissipate easily. So bystanders and would-be rescuers are put at risk. The girl's mother was hospitalised and around 100 neighbours had to evacuate their homes.
如此简单的自杀方法在四月份已夺去60多名生命（大多数死者的年龄是十几至二十几岁）。在今年早些时候，大概已有20人死亡此种毒气。由于刺鼻气味的无色硫化氢气体不易消散，所以旁观者和想要救助的民众也会处于在危险之中。目前，女孩的母亲已被送往医院治疗，100多名邻居不得不撤离家园。
Yet this is only the latest, macabre, technique in a country that suffers an epidemic of suicides. Japan has one of the highest suicide rates among rich countries. Cultural factors are partly at play. Japanese society rarely lets people bounce back from the perceived shame of failure or bankruptcy. Suicide is sometimes even met with approval—as facing one's fate, not shirking it. The samurai tradition views suicide as noble (though perhaps out of self-interest, since captured warriors were treated gruesomely). Japan's main religions, Buddhism and Shintoism, are neutral on suicide, unlike Abrahamic faiths that explicitly prohibit it.
然而，这只不过是最新的，恐怕的一种手段而已，但在日本却已引发了自杀潮。日本是自杀率最高的富国之一，而文化因素则是自杀率较高的部分原因。日本社会很少允许人们从失败或破产的羞辱中重整旗鼓。自杀事件有时会因受害人勇敢地面对命运，而非逃避命运大受民众赞同。此外，武士向来都把自杀看作高尚的行为(或许武士是出于利己主义，因为一旦成为俘虏则会受到虐待)。与亚伯拉罕宗教明令禁止自杀行为不同的是，日本主要宗教佛教和日本神道教对自杀行为保持中立态度。
Yet economic woes play an even bigger role. Suicide rates increased sharply in the mid-1990s as the economy soured, and have remained high since (even as the economy has improved slightly). Financial concerns are cited in one-fifth of suicide notes; almost half of all suicides are unemployed. Some take their lives so that surviving family members can collect insurance, which has led insurance firms to defer payments for two or three years as a deterrent. For the same reason, Japan Railway charges suicide victims' families for the cost of the inconvenience and clean-up.
经济困难是导致自杀率较高的另一个更为主要的原因。在20世纪90年代中期，由于经济不景气，自杀率在急剧上升。自那时起，自杀率就一直在保持着很高的水平(既便经济稍微改善)。在1/5的自杀遗书中，经济问题都会被涉及; 几乎一半的自杀者是失业人员。有些人自杀，目的是使家族成员获取保险金。针对此类行为，保险公司便采用延期付款二年或三年的措施以制止此类行为的发生。出于同种原因，日本铁路局向受害者的家庭成员索取在处理不便和卫生清理上的费用。
Last year the government instituted measures such as a counselling service and hotlines, with the aim of cutting the suicide rate by 20% in nine years. But these are palliatives. More important would be a change in social attitudes. Suicide might be less common if, rather than force people to endure lifelong shame, Japanese society began to allow its people second chances.
去年，政府采取诸如提供心理咨询和开通热线电话等对策，打算在九年内把自杀率减少20%。但这些只是权益之计。更为重要的则是转变社会观念。如果日本社会开始允许（失败和破产的）民众拥有东山再起的机会，而非置其于终身羞辱之中，自杀事件或许不再同往日一样常见。
文章不代表本人观点，译文仅供个人学习娱乐，不做商业用途。未经许可，不得转载,谢谢合作。