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At Japan's suicide cliffs, he's walked more than 600 people back from the edge.
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At Japan’s suicide cliffs, he's walked more than 600 people back from the edge. Lovely story from @JRKaiman https://buff.ly/2EOuGxC
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ASIA
WORLD
LA TIMES
At Japan’s suicide cliffs, he's walked more than 600 people back from the edge
By JONATHAN KAIMAN
FEB 22, 2018 | 3:00 AM | FUKUI, JAPAN
"These people are asking for help. They’re just waiting for someone to speak with them,” says Yukio Shige, who patrols and uses binoculars to find people preparing to commit suicide on Japan's Tojinbo cliffs. (Jonathan Kaiman / Los Angeles Times)
Almost no one jumps on rainy days. ... They jump when the sun returns and the masses step outside, reminding them of their misery. They jump during financial crises and in the early spring, when Japanese schools open and the pressures of life converge.
Yukio Shige's routine, though, is the same regardless of the weather. ... Nearly every day, he clambers across the high basalt columns of the Tojinbo cliffs, the Sea of Japan thrashing 80 feet below. He peers into binoculars, seeking hunched figures on distant rocks, ready to talk them down.
In 15 years, he's walked 609 people back from the edge. ... "The way I save people, it's like I'm seeing a friend," said Shige, 73, a retired policeman with a floppy fishing hat and a gentle demeanor. "It's not exciting or anything. I'm like, 'Hey, how are you doing?' These people are asking for help. They're just waiting for someone to speak with them."
Japan's suicide rate is among the highest in the developed world. In 2016, there were 17.3 suicides for every 100,000 people, second only to South Korea among major industrialized nations (the U.S. figure is 13.5). As in most places, the majority of victims are men. The most common method is hanging, unlike in the U.S., where it is firearms. Among people age 15 to 39 in Japan, suicide is the leading cause of death — claiming more lives than cancer and accidents combined.
WORLD
LA TIMES
At Japan’s suicide cliffs, he's walked more than 600 people back from the edge
By JONATHAN KAIMAN
FEB 22, 2018 | 3:00 AM | FUKUI, JAPAN
"These people are asking for help. They’re just waiting for someone to speak with them,” says Yukio Shige, who patrols and uses binoculars to find people preparing to commit suicide on Japan's Tojinbo cliffs. (Jonathan Kaiman / Los Angeles Times)
Almost no one jumps on rainy days. ... They jump when the sun returns and the masses step outside, reminding them of their misery. They jump during financial crises and in the early spring, when Japanese schools open and the pressures of life converge.
Yukio Shige's routine, though, is the same regardless of the weather. ... Nearly every day, he clambers across the high basalt columns of the Tojinbo cliffs, the Sea of Japan thrashing 80 feet below. He peers into binoculars, seeking hunched figures on distant rocks, ready to talk them down.
In 15 years, he's walked 609 people back from the edge. ... "The way I save people, it's like I'm seeing a friend," said Shige, 73, a retired policeman with a floppy fishing hat and a gentle demeanor. "It's not exciting or anything. I'm like, 'Hey, how are you doing?' These people are asking for help. They're just waiting for someone to speak with them."
Japan's suicide rate is among the highest in the developed world. In 2016, there were 17.3 suicides for every 100,000 people, second only to South Korea among major industrialized nations (the U.S. figure is 13.5). As in most places, the majority of victims are men. The most common method is hanging, unlike in the U.S., where it is firearms. Among people age 15 to 39 in Japan, suicide is the leading cause of death — claiming more lives than cancer and accidents combined.