Fox News All the News That's Fit to Print
 

By mistake I managed to hit a news link to the Fox Noise site. This was listed in the most popular story viewed.

Read the headline and stopped there. Didn't need to know anything beyond that.

I saw the headline and closed before the page fully opened. Ewww.

Ignoring the gory details, it's an interesting article. There apparently have been several similarly grizzly murders (largely of family members) that have been high profile in the Japanese media. There seems to be some concern that this sort of thing, and violent crime in general, is on the rise, possibly linked to economic woes and a change in social attitudes. Japan is pretty densely populated in parts and has managed to main relatively free from widespread violence of this sort. If there really is a trend in that direction, it could get pretty ugly.

Did you know a prefecture was a state? OMG!

Um, did they happen to consider that beheading is a big part of ancient Japanese culture? I mean, before they go blaming "The West" for their woes, or wondering why economic malaise doesn't result in, say, TPing houses as opposed to ritual butchery.

Actually, it's not at all what you think. The boy returns the "misappropriated" severed head to his mother with a formal apology. They cry. They make up. And then they all go to Medieval Times for brunch.

This can't be true: Medieval Times isn't open for lunch on Mondays.

agreed. the removal of the head was formerly considered polite and honorable and was in an effort to prevent pain and suffering of a family member or friend/ally when their honor was lost.

not all things of this world translate directly to western thinking

There's an interesting article in last month's The Atlantic about the recent trend of anonymous young people gathering to commit group suicide and the role of suicide in Japanese culture.

Unfortunately it is in their paid archive.

did they mention in the article if said group suicides were actually being performed or merely gatherings of like minded youths to discuss such activities, yet fall short of actually doing so?

I would think we'd have heard about those here if it were rampant.

No, actual suicides.

They meet online at suicide discussion boards then get together and (usually) asphyxiate themselves in sealed cars or rooms.

I want to clarify that this is happening in Japan. And such conclaves formed the basis of a Law & Order episode a couple years ago where a group of early 20-somethings met online, got together and parked on the train tracks (the twist element being that one of the people in the car was tricked into it and thought they were all going to the same party).

You have to be wary when the press uses the word "trend" but it is something that is happening with some regularity in Japan in recent years. Suicide is not a crime in Japan, nor is it seen as a sign of mental defect.

but is it a mental defect if done by asphyxiation rather than sepukku?

No.

The article talked a lot about how it is hard for authorities to get anybody to care (or even to get the authorities to care much). They managed to get a law passed saying that if a specific place and time for a suicide is mentioned on a certain class of message boards, then police can ask for information that will allow them to try and intercede.

One of the big multi-year best sellers in Japan is a suicide guide. The author is a pop culture icon frequently seen on the talk shows and stuff. It was an interesting read but unfortunately I only have it in print.

Mod note: Despite the topic purportedly being the oft-inflamatory Fox News, the subject seems to really be about Japanese suicide, murder and cultural causes of such.

I'm moving it to the Daily Grind. Leaving it out of the Lounge in an abundance of caution. But I've read nothing whatever to justify it being in the Parking LoT.