Japan appoints “Minister of Loneliness”: How lonely are the Japanese?

According to Japanese media reports, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga recently appointed former Minister of Regional Revitalization Tetsuo Sakamoto as the "Minister of Loneliness and Isolation Issues" ( referred to as the Minister of Loneliness ) , who will be specifically responsible for addressing issues such as rising suicide rates and intensified poverty during the epidemic.

Although the position of "Minister of Loneliness" may seem a bit ridiculous, Japan is not the first country to establish a "Minister of Loneliness". The first country is the United Kingdom! In 2018, former British Prime Minister Theresa May appointed former Sports Minister Tracy Crouch to serve as the "Minister of Loneliness".

Although Japan has established a "Minister of Loneliness", it should be difficult to successfully change such problems in Japanese society today!

Because loneliness is an indelible "virus" that lingers on the heads of Japanese people .

Due to cultural and lifestyle factors, long-term social repression, high suicide rates, death from overwork, and exclusion of outsiders have always been one of the reflections of Japan's social problems, and even gave rise to the term "society without connections".

Due to the impact of the epidemic, Japanese people face serious problems of loneliness or isolation.

According to data released by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, the number of suicides in Japan last year hit an 11-year high, increasing by 3.7% to 20,900. The number of child suicides last year hit a record high of 479.

According to a survey, more than 16% of Japanese adults never go out with friends or colleagues (except for business). In addition to adults, Japanese children are also the loneliest in the world. The research results of the United Nations Children's Fund's research institute on the happiness of children around the world showed that Japanese children who feel lonely ranked first in the world.

In addition to suicide, the problem of "lonely death" in Japan is also very serious!

In Japan, dying alone is not a remote or low-probability event.

In 2015, 1.5 million people died in Japan, of which about 30,000 died alone. Last year, due to the epidemic, about 40,000 people died without anyone paying attention to them. This number may become 100,000 by 2025.

Today, Japan has entered a "super-aged" society and the "era of living alone" . With the rising rate of unmarried people, relevant institutions predict that by 2040, single-person households in Japan will account for about 40% of the total number of households in Japan.

Although it is said that a person always comes naked and leaves naked, even the most open-minded person will be filled with sadness when facing a lonely death.

And this may be the reason why the pet industry market in Japan is expanding year by year!

Japan

Lonely

Ageing