Japanese Celebs' Final Acts
In the almost four years since I wrote this piece, I've been asked how the celebrity (more specifically female celebrity) suicide rate in Japan compares with that of Korea. I'm, in no way, going to present any analogies or official statistics of this, but since it's news whenever a famous person dies (by whatever means), all it took for me to find out how female celeb suicide rates compare between Korea and Japan, was some Internet research. In short, Korean female celebs have been more prone to take their own lives in recent years (the "trend" beginning in Feburary, 2005 with actress Lee Eun-joo's death) but the suicides of Japanese female celebs started two decades earlier. Also, the Japanese ladies seem to be a bit more creative than their Korean counterparts when it comes to the method to end it all, sometimes employing the use of toxic chemicals while the Koreans overwhelmingly favor hanging as the preferred means.
In my search for Japanese female celeb suicides in recent decades, I came up with six names. Of those names, the suicide of the one who was best-known occurred 26 years ago and the ones since weren't all exactly household names in Japan (as Choi Jin-sil was in Korea). The most recent being gravure idol Miyu Uehara (above), who was found hanged in her apartment on May 12, 2011. She left no note but was apparently unhappy with her chosen career, despite becoming quite popular in her field, with over 400 television appearances to her credit.
EDIT: All updates will be made at the original article at Idol Features.
COMMENTS
Interesting topic, and it's most refreshing to see someone use the proper term "hanged" for suicide instead of hung. Pictures are hung and people are hanged. It never ceases to amaze me how often the national newspaper writers use the incorrect word.
Ako Kawada was really beautiful what a shame.
Wow. Depressing but excellent article CEC. It makes me wonder if there is a correlation to the amount stress these people have due the amount hours they work? Or the pressure from society?
It is pretty well known that both Japan and South Korea have high suicide rates compared with other countries. According to the World Health Organization (link http://www.who.int/mental_health/prevention/suicide_rates/en/), South Korea (Republic of Korea) has the highest female suicide rate at 22.1 per 100,000, while Japan ranks 5th at at 13.2 (Sri Lanka has 16.8, China (selected rural and urban areas) has 14.8, and Guyana has 13.4.
Combine these already high suicide rates with the notoriety of celebrity suicides, and it's not surprising (but still sad) to see all these celebrity suicides.
I was working in South Korea for a few years when suicide seemed to be almost a hobby for well known Koreans. Tragic as it for anybody, no matter their fame or success, to think suicide is the only answer, it's even worse for the people left behind.
I used to teach in a high school, and left a year before Lee Hye Ryeon killed herself. I found out later that within a week of her death, two of my former students also decided to take that path. Whether their decision had anything to do with the celebrity suicide is unknown... but it may have been an influence.
As Fungusfarm says, depressing but excellent article. Although I wished I had read the article first before zooming in straight to the photos.... Now I'm feeling guilty...
terribly sad and a waste of some hot girls...
Got on a plane to Tokyo
Just recovered from the last jaunt
We all gotta earn our dough
It’s not about what I want.
So time to go again
Wasn’t going to stay long
But wished for a naked Siren
To help me get along.
Trouble was, the last post
Before I left the house
A calendar call. Diagnosed
Worthy, perhaps, but kind of a louse.*
I toiled for a week
That’s life on the road
But just when it seems so bleak
I arrived at my humble abode.
So, I was hopin’ to get a rise
But much to my surprise
What I found did make me sob
A subject somewhat macabre.
So satisfied I must be
With the intervening three
The favorite of which
Is the delicious Sandee..
So guys, give me a nice clue
In the middle of night I won’t care
That my jetlag I can eschew
By an upcoming Siren so bare.
* to be fair to Lee, in 3 days I saw at least 12 Japanese girls on the street that would easily a calendar make. I came face to face with one as I alit from a train that almost made me drop to my knees and beg.
Just a bit morbid and depressing. Suicide is a silly thing to do. Especially if you have family.