When someone thinks about Japan, they might think of the delicious food, the unique culture and traditions, the advanced technology, or the people themselves. The given examples are mostly on the positive side of things. But Japan is also known for its high suicide rate. But what are the causes for those suicides?
I think that there’s a hidden side of Japan that many might not know. The bullies and cyberbullies in Japan.
I’m a middle schooler from Thailand, but I’m half Thai half Japanese. While it might seem like I would have more knowledge about the Thai side of social media, that’s not true. I watch the Japanese news on a daily basis, and follow a lot of news, so I get a lot of information from there. On the other hand, I barely watch any Thai news and have no interest in those. I Don’t like having a social media account, and I hope my readers will understand why by the end of this blog.
Japan’s social media usage
Japan is known for its advanced technology. So it’s no surprise that, according to contentworks, 94% of the population uses the internet and over half(61%) of the population uses social media. The website has also stated that a Japanese person spends 3 hours and 45 minutes on the internet daily. According to the website Statista, about 80.8% of the population uses Line, 42.8% uses Twitter, 35.8% uses Instagram, 34% uses Youtube and 31.2% uses Facebook. The website Edamame Japan states that the social media age range stretches a long way from the late 10’s to the late 60’s which is amazing in my opinion.
Since a lot of Japanese people use a lot of world famous social media such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, many of my friends were surprised when I told them that the only social media I use are Line, Youtube and barely any Instagram. I think the reason was because they had impressions of Japanese people using a lot of social media sites. But I don’t think that Line and Youtube would count as a proper social media site since it works very differently than other social media sites. And I only use Instagram for news about the games, such as Brawl Stars, and other news. I have heard many stories about how random strangers have sent my friends a friend request. They seemed fine with it, But if I were them I would decline and block right away. I personally think that meeting people online is cool and all, but I don’t think I’m brave enough to step up into the online world.
Bullying in Japan
This might sound ironic to some people because Japan seems like a country that has respect for each other. But bullying in Japan is one of the major problems in school. Even the world wide famous anime/cartoon Doraemon has a pair of bullies in its main cast. According to Japan Times, more than 500,000 cases of bullying have been reported in Japan in 2018. About 80% of the schools that have done a survey for the Japan Times said that they have found at least 1 case of bullying in 2018. I was lucky enough to not become a victim when I had a school Orientation in Japan when I was in 5th and 6th grade. Thinking back I think I have seen one, but I wasn’t sure back then.
How does Bullying connect to Social Media?
Since most bullying can’t be done anywhere other than school, using Social Media is more efficient and can be done anywhere as long as the user has internet. As we concluded earlier, a lot of the Japanese population uses social media. There are many things that make Cyberbullying Better. They are:
- Normal bullying can only be done at school in a specific time while Cyberbullying can Be done anywhere 24/7.
- From what I have seen, People Tend to get more expressive on the internet/social Media because their real identity isn’t known. So their opinions might be stronger and harsher.
- It is hard to catch a cyberbully since they can fake all their data.
- There are a lot of users, so it would be no surprise that there’s many people with the same name(very common In Japan). This adds to the issue of anonymity and can cause a big stir due to misidentification.
- Cyberbullying is more efficient, easier and possibly makes the culprit feel less guilty because there’s no face-to-face communication. This can also make it hard to catch, too.
- It can cause a snowball effect if done right. For example, starting up a rumor about someone that is very controversial. they wouldn’t get hate just from who they know, but from people all over the internet. And as the story/rumor spreads, more people will send hate and spread the rumor. This goes on and on, causing the snowball effect.
How much can cyberbullying affect a person and its country
Just like normal bullying, cyberbullying can Also cause depression, stress, anxiety. This can also cause a loss in self confidence which is very essential as a human being. SCMP.com explains that suicidal thoughts occur more in teenagers than adults. The website has given a reasoning that it is because they are too inexperienced to overcome psychological hardship and so they need help and guidance.
Because of this, The Japanese government has taken action. SCMP.com writes that the Japanese Government has started off with making 24-hour telephone helplines. After that, they have made some changes at railway stations, since they are places where a lot of suicides occur. They added Blue lightings which has a soothing effect. Now, I have seen news about this when they were added and a lot of specialists have confirmed it. They have also added mirrors so they could have some self-reflection. The government is still trying to find ways to decrease the amount of suicidal deaths.
Recently, a Japanese wrestler took her own life, and the causes seem to point to cyberbullying. But this is only just ONE example. Many more have died with the cause of cyberbullying. At first glance, I assumed that the Japanese government was doing what they are supposed to do, But after looking at a lot of sources and opinions, My thoughts have changed. I appreciate the actions that the government has taken, but I think that there should be more action taken. While they have made a law to prevent cyberbullying, people seem to find loopholes and get away with what they have done. If one of my family members got killed or committed suicide after bullying, I would at least wish to see who the culprit was, and see him receive his punishments. So losing a family member and knowing that the culprit got away is the worst feeling.
This is why I don’t like to be on social media. I am a person who doesn’t like to take risks that could cause my life to turn upside down, so i think that it’s reasonable for me to not interact with social media. Unless safety is guaranteed, I don’t think I would ever interact with anything on social media. Just a spectator looking at everything and keeping my opinions to myself.
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