| Netto shinju, or Internet group suicide, is a contemporary form of Japanese suicide where strangers meet on the Internet and make plans to commit suicide together. In the past decade in Japan, numerous incidents have occurred in which younger Japanese, largely in their 20s and 30s, meet on the Internet, exchange tips for how to commit suicide, and make plans to meet offline for group or individual suicide. By using a qualitative content analysis, on-line communications posted on one of the most popular Japanese suicide bulletin boards are examined in order to better understand how widespread use of the Internet in modern Japan and how communications specific to the computer-mediated interactions add a new dimension to the complex socio-cultural meaning of suicide. The aim is to understand the diverse subjective experiences of contemporary Japanese who contemplate suicide over the Internet.;The findings of this study revealed numerous themes among the postings on the Japanese suicide bulletin board. There were various forms of suicidal wishes, such as ambivalent, passive, and group suicide wishes. Despite the recent effort by the Japanese government to prohibit overt group suicide solicitation online, there were still a number of discussants who expressed a group suicide wish. Themes that were expressed recurrently by more than 20% of the discussants were the following: psychological pain; seeking connection online interpersonal conflicts; lack of support; negative views of self and/or the world; and mental health diagnoses/symptoms.;Various themes identified in this study paint a different picture of Japanese suicide from traditionally held monolithic views. Against the backdrop of a Japanese cultural context where suicide has historically occupied an important role but has evolved, Internet suicide seems to reflect a hybrid of Japanese social values from the past and the present as well as Western psychological notions of suicide. As a result of the systematic qualitative analysis of online postings, a textured and grounded understanding of Internet suicide in Japan is described in this study. |
