Shared Death: Self, Sociality and Internet Group Suicide in Japan

Abstract

Existing models for understanding suicide fail to account for the distinctiveness of Internet group suicide, a recent phenomenon in Japan. Drawing from an ethnography of Internet suicide websites, two social commentaries in Japanese popular culture, and the work of developmental psychologist Philippe Rochat, I argue that participation in Internet suicide forums and even the act of Internet group suicide result from both a need for social connectedness and the fear of social rejection and isolation that this need engenders. These needs and fears are especially strong in the case of Japan, where the dominant cultural rhetoric ties selfhood closely to the social self that is the object of perception and experience by others. I show how such an understanding of Internet group suicide helps us to understand some of its basic characteristics, which are otherwise difficult to explain and which have puzzled the Japanese media and popular accounts: the "ordinariness" or casual nature of Internet group suicide, the wish for an easy or comfortable death, the wish to die with others, and the wish to "vanish." Internet group suicide sheds light on questions of Japanese selfhood in modernity and expands our understanding of suicide in Japan in general.

Mindfulness of the kindness of others: The contemplative practice of Naikan in cultural context

“…I have conducted research on Internet group suicide in Japan since 2003 by closely following over 40 suicide websites. The main finding from this research is that many suicidal individuals who are frequent visitors to these suicide websites suffer from a distinctive form of existential suffering that is not merely reducible to clinical depression (C. Ozawa- de Silva, 2008de Silva, , 2009de Silva, , 2010. The distinctive aspects of this existential suffering include: an absence of meaning; afflictive loneliness; a sense of disconnectedness; needing others to die together with; and a wish to die in comfort.…”

“…How can a Buddhist practice be a secular practice? This question requires careful attention and I have attempted to tackle it in another article (C. Ozawa- de Silva & Ozawa-de Silva, 2010), but the key issue is that a large part of Buddhism is a system of psychology of the human mind, so there are aspects of its philosophy and psychology that are applicable to those who do not share Buddhist beliefs in Ozawa- de Silva 529 reincarnation, the existence of Buddhas, and enlightenment. His Holiness the Dalai Lama has strongly advocated such a view, distinguishing between Buddhist science (that which is observable and empirically verifiable), Buddhist philosophy (that which one can infer through logical reasoning), and Buddhist religion (that which one must rely on testimony, scripture, or tradition for; Gyatso, 2005).…”

“…While attempting to spread Naikan widely, many disciples of Yoshimoto suggested calling the practice "Naikan psychotherapy," "Naikan therapy," or "The Naikan method" (C. Ozawa- de Silva, 2006de Silva, , 2010, but Yoshimoto's typical response was "Naikan is Naikan." Indeed, many practitioners reject the idea that Naikan is a psychotherapy, since psychotherapeutic effects, strictly understood, are only a small part of the Naikan experience.…”

“…Naikan is also not a religious practice, since Buddhist terms and concepts are avoided, and people do not need to know anything about Buddhism or have any faith or belief in Buddhism in order to practice Naikan, nor does Naikan aim to turn people into Buddhists. Due to Yoshimoto's reluctance to typecast the practice, Naikan's ambiguous identity remains a point of discussion even among Naikan practitioners and researchers (C. Ozawa- de Silva, 2006de Silva, , 2007de Silva, , 2010Reynolds, 1980Reynolds, , 1983.…”

Internet suicide in Japan: A qualitative content analysis of a suicide bulletin board

“…The idea of belongingness (Baumeister & Leary, 1995;Joiner, 2005) was directly reflected by this theme, where discussants expressed their psychological pain in having no place to exist within their social network, be it their family, school, or work. In her work, Ozawa-de Silva (2010) also identified ibasho as a sense of belongingness and explained the idea in relation to the concept of public self, which points to the concept of self in relation to others. The theme of having ''no place'' to belong seems to contradict the discourse on Japanese society often found in Nihonjinron and other culturalist writings (e.g., Benedict, 1946;Doi, 1971;Iga, 1986) that portray the Japanese people as embedded in an interdependent social network.…”