2010年12月30日木曜日

DV Korea

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Domestic violence between married couples on the rise
Study finds 1 in 6 married couples reported abuse last year, with increases the highest for defectors and multiethnic families

» This graph shows the rate of domestic violence in eight countries and the year in which the data was collected, from the top: Bangladesh (2001), South Korea (2010), Thailand (2000), Turkey (2008), Australia (2003), Japan (2001) United Kingdom (2007) United States (2000).

By Lee Seung-jun

Physical violence between spouses occurred on at least one occasion during the past year for one out of every six married couples under the age of 65, a Ministry of Gender Equality and Family-commissioned study reports. The study also showed a major increase in the rate of spousal violence due to economic issues compared to three years prior.

The ministry on Tuesday announced the findings of its 2010 study on domestic violence nationwide. The study, which was conducted by the Yonsei University Graduate School of Social Welfare at the ministry's behest, examined 3,800 households across the country with spouses under the age of 65.

The findings showed a rate of physical violence between spouses of 16.7 percent over the past year, or roughly one out of every six couples examined. This marked a 5.1 percentage point increase over the 11.6 percent rate found in a 2007 study.

In particular, the rate of physical violence perpetrated by husbands against wives stood at 15.3 percent, more than five times higher than the 2007 rate in Great Britain (3 percent) and the 2001 rate in Japan (also 3 percent).

The study also showed a 53.8 percent rate of total violence between spouses, including physical, emotional and economic violence as well as sexual abuse and neglect. This represented a 13.5 percentage point increase from the 40.3 percent rate found in the study three years before.

Analysts said that economic uncertainty was a factor in the increase in physical abuse between spouses compared to 2007.

Domestic violence between married couples on the rise : National : Home

2010年12月29日水曜日

Child Abuse Japan Times

The National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology has developed a database it says can be used to distinguish injuries to children that were caused by accidents from those inflicted through domestic violence.

Because parents who abuse their children often blame their injuries on accidents, the database will seek to verify such claims by gauging the likelihood of an injury being caused by accident, the government lab, known as AIST, said.

The database performs the task by comparing new injuries with about 10,000 other cases in which children were treated by the National Center for Child Health and Development.

The data are classified by gender, age and stage of physical development, and detail the nature of the injury.

The institute used the database to examine 24 child injury cases suspected as abuse and found that the chances of accidental cause ranged up to about 20 percent in 22 of them. But percentages sometimes got as high as 50 percent, so the lab says it is still working to improve the database's precision.

Doctors who suspect abuse are required to report their suspicions to counseling offices for children.

AIST database to help ID child abuse injuries | The Japan Times Online

2010年12月28日火曜日

Japan, 2010

TOKYO (AP) — Japan has been overtaken by China as the world's No. 2 economy. Its flagship company, Toyota, recalled more than 10 million vehicles in an embarrassing safety crisis. Its fourth prime minister resigned in three years, and the government remains unable to jolt an economy entering its third decade of stagnation.

For once-confident Japan, 2010 may well mark a symbolic milestone in its slide from economic giant to what experts see as its likely destiny: a second-tier power with some standout companies but limited global influence.

As Japanese drink up at year-end parties known as "bonen-kai," or "forget-the-year gatherings," this is one many will be happy to forget.

Problem is, there's little to look forward to. With a rapidly aging population, bulging national debt, political gridlock and a risk-averse culture slow to embrace change, Japan's prospects aren't promising. And a tense, high-seas spat with China has intensified fears of its neighbor as a military as well as economic threat.

A few optimists hope Japan can harness its strength in technology and its "Cool Japan" cultural appeal — from fashion and art to "anime" cartoons. The country needs to shed its reliance on manufacturing, they argue, and find new growth areas such as green energy, software engineering and health care for its elderly.

But talk to university students, and their outlook is bleak.

Many worry about finding steady jobs and whether they can support families — concerns that have contributed to Japan's low fertility rate of 1.3 children per woman. Average household income has fallen 9 percent since 1993.

Makoto Miyazaki, a 22-year-old student at prestigious Keio University in Tokyo, senses forces outside his control — and Japan's — are going to dictate his future.

"Internationally, Japan is between big countries like China and the U.S. And Korea is becoming a major competitor — that's a big threat to Japan," he said. "I feel like we have fewer choices."

It's a startling contrast with the 1980s, when Japan was flush with cash and some experts believed its economy was poised to dominate the world.

Millions have given up the goal of lifetime employment at a major corporation and become "freeters," flitting among temporary jobs with few if any benefits. As companies cut costs, temporary workers have grown to a third of the work force, up from 16 percent in the mid-1980s.

Further, the population is projected to fall from 127 million to 90 million by 2055 — 40 percent of them over the age of 65. That's going to place a heavy tax burden on workers.

Economic difficulty is a chief reason more than 30,000 Japanese have committed suicide every year for the past 12 years.

The Associated Press: For Japan, 2010 was a year to forget

Japan University Bullying Suicide

Japan university sorry for death of bullied Indian student

A Japanese university on Monday apologised to the family of an Indian student who committed suicide in 2007, after leaving a note saying he would kill himself because of bullying at school. The male student, then aged 20, at Otemon Gakuin University in Osaka prefecture, jumped from a building three
years ago, leaving a note saying: "The bullying I keep getting at school ... Cannot take it any more."

The student, who was born to Indian parents and grew up in Japan, had earned

Japanese citizenship, a university official said.

Compounding the tragedy, his father, depressed about his son's suicide, later jumped to his death from the same building, according to local reports.

"I would like to express my heartfelt apology to the bereaved family members," said university dean Masayuki Ochiai at a press conference.

The university refused to comment on whether the abuse was racially motivated saying the specific nature of the bullying was not known.

Local media said he had been forced to take his trousers down in front of other people and that he had been nicknamed "bin Laden".

An independent third party panel was created in October to probe the incident after the Sankei newspaper and public broadcaster NHK reported the case.

Japan, a country where more than 30,000 people commit suicide every year, often sees school children kill themselves, with many leaving notes referring to harsh bullying by their peers.

Japan university sorry for death of bullied Indian student - Hindustan Times

Otemon Gakuin Suicide Japan

Although this is just being reported now, the suicide happened in June of 2007! Although the family of the Indian student who committed suicide asked the Otemon Gakuin University to investigate, the school let this case sit on a shelf for 3 years. The university made no report until the bereaved family hired a lawyer in August of 2010.

This is really sad news. I have not seen this picked up by a lot of news agencies yet, but I really hope this news goes international. I have personally seen cases of exchange students having trouble making friends, having trouble with host families, and even being picked on or disliked by teachers before. This story, however, is even more extreme.

Bullied Indian Student at Otemon Gakuin University Commits Suicide | Japan News and Commentary

Japan University Suicide

Tokyo: A Japanese university on Monday apologised to the family of an Indian student who committed suicide in 2007, after leaving a note saying he would kill himself because of bullying at school.

The male student, then aged 20, at Otemon Gakuin University in Osaka prefecture, jumped from a building three years ago, leaving a note saying: "The bullying I keep getting at school ... Cannot take it any more."

The student, who was born to Indian parents and grew up in Japan, had earned Japanese citizenship, a university official said.

Compounding the tragedy, his father, depressed about his son's suicide, later jumped to his death from the same building, according to local reports.

"I would like to express my heartfelt apology to the bereaved family members," said university dean Masayuki Ochiai at a press conference.

The university refused to comment on whether the abuse was racially motivated saying the specific nature of the bullying was not known.

Local media said he had been forced to take his trousers down in front of other people and that he had been nicknamed 'bin Laden'.

An independent third party panel was created in October to probe the incident after the Sankei newspaper and public broadcaster NHK reported the case.

Japan, a country where more than 30,000 people commit suicide every year, often sees school children kill themselves, with many leaving notes referring to harsh bullying by their peers.

Japan Uni sorry for Indian student's suicide | Deccan Chronicle | 2010-12-27

Child Porn Japan

The spread of child pornography-related crime in recent years has been exacerbated by the ease with which both perpetrators and victims can access the Internet.
The trend has contributed to an uninterrupted increase in the number of victimized children in this country, despite ongoing international campaigns to root out child pornography, including sexually explicit photographs and graphic depictions of child abuse.
The number of child pornography victims has set new records each year in Japan, despite government moves to strengthen measures against child pornography. (Yomiuri)

Net facilitates spread of child porn | Pillow Talk Japan

Child Pornography Japan

The Yomiuri Shimbun

The spread of child pornography-related crime in recent years has been exacerbated by the ease with which both perpetrators and victims can access the Internet.

The trend has contributed to an uninterrupted increase in the number of victimized children in this country, despite ongoing international campaigns to root out child pornography, including sexually explicit photographs and graphic depictions of child abuse.

The number of child pornography victims has set new records each year in Japan, despite government moves to strengthen measures against child pornography. Experts are urging schoolteachers, administrators and parents to recognize the severity of the problem.

Shihoko Fujiwara, representative of Polaris Project Japan (www.polarisproject.jp), a nonprofit organization that provides support to children and women who are victims of sexual abuse and trafficking, said the number of child pornography and child prostitution cases detected in Japan has exceeded 5,000 annually, and that the number was rising year by year.

"One of the reasons for the increase is due to the crackdown [by authorities], but another is that a growing number of children have become involved in the business through the widespread use of the Internet," she said.

According to Fujiwara, a 14-year-old second-year female middle school student was forced to sell sexual services by her classmates and the scene was filmed by male customers.

Net facilitates spread of child porn : National : DAILY YOMIURI ONLINE (The Daily Yomiuri)

The Associated Press: For Japan, 2010 was a year to forget

The Associated Press: For Japan, 2010 was a year to forget

2010年12月22日水曜日

Japan Child Abuse

And the number is growing. Recent amendments to the Child Abuse Prevention Law that expanded the definition of child abuse and neglect, as well as an increasing public awareness of these issues, have resulted in an influx of children into institutional care. Between 2000 and 2007 the number of children in state homes increased by 6.7 percent and the number of facilities grew 2.2 percent, according to the latest government figures. In some homes, 75 percent of the children Living Dreams personnel encounter have been abused.

Dreams for life, not just for Christmas | The Japan Times Online

2010年12月16日木曜日

Psychiatry Japan

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) is published by the American Psychiatric Association and provides a common language and standard criteria for the classification of mental disorders. It is used in the United States and in varying degrees around the world, by clinicians, researchers, psychiatric drug regulation agencies, health insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies, and policy makers. The DSM has attracted controversy and criticism as well as praise. There have been five revisions since it was first published in 1952, gradually including more mental disorders, although some have been removed and are no longer considered to be mental disorders, most notably homosexuality.

D

A Warning Sign on the Road to DSM-V: Beware of Its Unintended Consequences - Psychiatric Times

2010年12月12日日曜日

Japanese Psychology

Well Planted in Fertile Ground: An Introduction to Japanese PsychotherapyWell Planted in Fertile Ground: An Introduction to Japanese Psychotherapy by Andrew Grimes

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


"Well Planted in Fertile Soil: An Introduction to Japanese Psychotherapy"
http://tokyocounseling.com/english/media...


The Practice of Psychotherapy in Japan: an investigation into all psychotherapies currently being practiced in Japan, the ways and approaches of psychotherapies in Japan, where psychotherapists practice in Japan and how they utilize psychotherapeutic systems to serve the needs and wishes of their clients and patients. With an emphasis on identifying the full range of systems of psychotherapy being used within Japanese society in the treatment of emotional and psychosomatic problems and also in the treatment of problems caused by crisis in life.

Extract: The current of psychotherapy in Japan has long been naturally moving towards all current psychotherapies being used in a form of integrated psychotherapy. The teachings of all the most leading and influential teachers of the predominate schools of psychotherapy at least since the end of the war in the Pacific have favoured an acceptance and respect for all other major systems of psychotherapy. The answers and comments provided by all respondents surveyed as part of this research on the use of all of the major methods of psychotherapy currently utilized to nurture the well being of clients and patients of all kinds overwhelming show that they vary and tailor their approach for each and every one of them. So very few practicing psychotherapists here insist on just one approach. Therefore it is a very personal and consensually concordant current that has resulted in integrative psychotherapy becoming popular in Japan too.

The very nature of Japanese culture with its Buddhist roots still deeply influencing the ways that all people here relate to one another here is integrative in nature and schools of psychotherapy too have been adopted, adapted and encouraged to grow and advance in a spirit of harmony and cooperation between professionals and clients and patients always with a respect of the intrinsic inter-relationship of human interaction being at the heart of things."

© 2010 Andrew Grimes JSCCP, JCP - Author - Not for quotation or citation without the express permission of the author.



View all my reviews

自殺 東京カウンセリングサービス

自殺:千葉の中2男子が首つり アンケにいじめ受けている - 毎日jp(毎日新聞)

自殺:千葉の中2男子が首つり アンケにいじめ受けている

 千葉県市川市の市立中学2年の男子生徒(14)が自宅で14日に首つり自殺をしていたことが分かった。1日に学校が実施したアンケートでいじめを受けていると回答、担任教諭には「いじめる生徒」の名前を伝え、学校側は対応を検討中だった。遺書は見つかっていないが、市教育委員会はいじめを苦に自殺した可能性もあるとみて調査している。

2010年12月2日木曜日

Suicide Japan Japan Times

Suicide Japan The Japan Times

Until that year, Japan had between 22,000 and 24,000 suicides a year. In 1998 the rate increased by around 35 percent, and since 1998 the number of people killing themselves each year in Japan has consistently remained over 30,000. The current worldwide recession is, of course, impacting Japan, so unless the new administration initiates very proactive and well funded local and nationwide suicide prevention programs and other mental health care initiatives, including tackling the widespread problem of clinical depression suffered by so many of the general population, it is very difficult to foresee the previous government's stated target to reduce the suicide rate to around 23,000 by 2016 as being achievable. On the contrary, the suffering that people who become part of these numbers have to endure may well stay at current levels.

Bringing down the suicide rate | The Japan Times Online

Suicide Japan The Japan Times

Japan's Suicide Epidemic

From CNN Japan's Suicide Epidemic

An average of 30,000 Japanese people take their own lives every year. Today, News Stream examines the role the internet is playing in this challenging national issue.

News Stream: Blog Archive - Japan's Suicide Epidemic « - CNN.com Blogsjavascript:void(0)

2010年11月21日日曜日

Japan anti-child abuse campaign

Japan gov't mounts anti-child abuse campaign

The building of the Japanese welfare ministry is lit up to resemble an orange ribbon, a symbol of campaign against child abuse, in Tokyo's Kasumigaseki area Nov. 19, 2010. (Kyodo)


Japan gov't mounts anti-child abuse campaign | Photos | Kyodo News

2010年10月10日日曜日

Amazon.com: Well Planted in Fertile Ground: An Introduction to Japanese Psychotherapy Andrew Grimes: Books

Amazon.com: Well Planted in Fertile Ground: An Introduction to Japanese Psychotherapy (9781453821442): Andrew Grimes: Books

http://astore.amazon.com/counselpsycho-20

Amazon.com: Well Planted in Fertile Ground: An Introduction to Japanese Psychotherapy (9781453821442): Andrew Grimes: Books

Amazon.com: Well Planted in Fertile Ground: An Introduction to Japanese Psychotherapy (9781453821442): Andrew Grimes: Books




"An Introduction to Japanese Psychotherapy" is an investigation into modern Japanese psychotherapy practice currently in Japan, the ways and approaches of psychotherapies in Japan, where psychotherapists practice in Japan and how they utilize psychotherapeutic systems to serve the needs and wishes of their clients and patients. With an emphasis on identifying the full range of systems of psychotherapy being used within Japanese society in the treatment of emotional and psychosomatic problems and also in the treatment of problems caused by crisis in life." Extract: "The current of psychotherapy in Japan has long been naturally moving towards all current psychotherapies being used in a form of integrated psychotherapy. The teachings of all the most leading and influential teachers of the predominate schools of psychotherapy at least since the end of the war in the Pacific have favoured an acceptance and respect for all other major systems of psychotherapy. The answers and comments provided by all respondents surveyed as part of this research on the use of all of the major methods of psychotherapy currently utilized to nurture the well being of clients and patients of all kinds overwhelming show that they vary and tailor their approach for each and every one of them. So very few practicing psychotherapists here insist on just one approach. Therefore it is a very personal and consensually concordant current that has resulted in integrative psychotherapy becoming popular in Japan too. The very nature of Japanese culture with its Buddhist roots still deeply influencing the ways that all people relate to one another here is integrative in nature and current modalities of Japanese psychotherapy too have been adopted, adapted and encouraged to grow and advance in a spirit of harmony and cooperation between professionals and clients and patients always with a respect of the intrinsic inter-relationship of human interaction being at the heart of things."

About the Author: Andrew Grimes was educated, trained and qualified in Japan as a Clinical Psychologist with a focus in person centered psychotherapy under the clinical supervision of Dr Noboru Hozumi and the educational supervision of Dr Akihisa Kondo. He was qualified in 1996 as a Clinical Psychologist by the Japanese Society of Certified Clinical Psychologists. In 2003 he became the first non-Japanese mental health professional to be awarded qualification as a registered Psychotherapist in Japan by the Japanese Federation for Psychotherapy. He has practiced here as a counselor, psychotherapist and group therapist in Japan for over twenty years in both Community Psychiatric Adult Daycare Rehabilitation Centres and JSCCP recognized Counseling Centers. Currently he is the Principal Director of Tokyo Counseling Services which he founded in 1999. Tokyo Counseling Services Website: http://tokyocounseling.com

2010年10月4日月曜日

こころの健康国民フォーラム

香山リカのココロの万華鏡:不況だからこそ /東京 - 毎日jp(毎日新聞)

香山リカのココロの万華鏡:不況だからこそ /東京

 「不況だからこそ精神保健サービスの強化を!」

 こういうメッセージを見たら、驚きを感じるだろうか。

 これは、10月3日に東京で行われる「こころの健康国民フォーラム」のテーマのひとつだ。このフォーラムを行うのは、当事者、家族、専門家が協力してこころの健康を守る基本法の制定を目指す構想会議。

 以前、このコラムで、うつ病や自殺によって年間2兆円もの経済損失が起きている、という話題を取り上げた。日本に先駆けてこの試算を行い、精神疾患による膨大な社会経済的損失を明らかにしたのはイギリスの医療経済学者たちだ。彼らは、精神保健改革のための積極的な初期投資により、結果的には社会的コストも節減できるのだ、という推測も行った。それに基づいてイギリスでは実際に精神保健関連の制度や施策が新たに作られ、一定の効果が得られている。

 このイギリスの経験を踏まえて、日本の構想会議の人たちも、「不況である今だからこそ、精神保健医療の政策的優先度を高める必要がある」と主張しているのだ。

2010年10月1日金曜日

児童虐待

児童虐待:288人、安全確認できず 19人が行方不明--厚労省調べ - 毎日jp(毎日新聞)

児童虐待:288人、安全確認できず 19人が行方不明--厚労省調べ

 全国の児童相談所(児相)が6月末までに対応した児童虐待で、児相などに義務づけられた安全確認が8月30日時点でできていない子供が288人おり、このうち19人が行方不明となっていることが30日、厚生労働省の調べで明らかになった。同省は「大変大きな数字」としており、親族に捜索願を出してもらうことなども含め、さらに確認に努めるよう児相側に求める。

 7月に起きた大阪市の2幼児放置死事件を受け、同省が緊急に調査。4~6月、各地の児相が受理した虐待相談1万3469件中、安全確認できなかったのは261人。このうち氏名や住所などが特定できていないのが238人。氏名や住所が判明した20人のうち、転居したまま追跡不能となった行方不明の子は6人、児相などから接触を続けるものの親が訪問を拒んだり不在などで未確認のケースが14人。他に2人は7月に放置死に至り、別の1人は4月に堺市内で死亡している。

2010年9月27日月曜日

自衛官自殺:後絶たぬ 08年度、一般職国家公務員の1.5倍 背景に「いじめ」など - 毎日jp(毎日新聞)

自衛官自殺:後絶たぬ 08年度、一般職国家公務員の1.5倍 背景に「いじめ」など - 毎日jp(毎日新聞)

防衛省・自衛隊の自殺者が毎年、100人近くに上り、高止まり傾向に歯止めがかからない。04~06年度は3年連続で100人に達し、07年度以降は80人台で推移しているものの、08年度の自殺者83人を10万人あたりで換算すると33人となり、一般職国家公務員10万人あたりの自殺者22人に比べ1・5倍の高率となっている。背景には、厳しい規律や生活環境、拡大する海外派遣による負担増なども指摘されるが、効果的な対策は見いだせないのが現状で、同省は頭を悩ませている。【樋岡徹也】

自衛官自殺:後絶たぬ 08年度、一般職国家公務員の1.5倍 背景に「いじめ」など - 毎日jp(毎日新聞)

自衛官自殺:後絶たぬ 08年度、一般職国家公務員の1.5倍 背景に「いじめ」など - 毎日jp(毎日新聞)

自衛官自殺:後絶たぬ 08年度、一般職国家公務員の1.5倍 背景に「いじめ」など
 ◇背景に「いじめ」や「新任務ストレス」

2010年9月23日木曜日

Tokyo Counseling Services

Tokyo Counseling Services

The TCS counseling center in Shimokitazawa provides a wide range of counseling and psychotherapy services, including individual counseling, couples and marriage therapy, family art therapy and group therapy. Easily accessible by car and train from Shibuya, Shinjuku and Kichijoji, the counseling center is open daily from 9 a.m.

カウンセリング

東京カウンセリングサービス

東京カウンセリングサービス は全て、日本臨床心理士認定協会の臨床心理士など、専門家としての資格やライセンスの有資格者です。又、セラピストは、専門的な経験を積んだ、日本欧州共通サイコセラピー資格の認定者です。

2010年9月22日水曜日

所在不明乳幼児

所在不明乳幼児:35市区で延べ355人 毎日新聞調査 - 毎日jp(毎日新聞)

所在不明乳幼児:35市区で延べ355人 毎日新聞調査

 住民票を移さないまま一家で転居するなどし、行政機関が安否や所在を確認できない乳幼児(0~3歳)が、全国の主要74市区のうち35市区で延べ355人に上ることが、毎日新聞の調査で分かった。こうしたケースは貧困や孤立による児童虐待につながるリスクもあることから、子どもの発見に向け早急な対応が求められそうだ。

 毎日新聞は8月、東京23区、道府県庁所在地、政令市の74市区にアンケートし、乳幼児健診に来なかったため、自治体職員が家庭訪問するなどした結果、住民登録地に住んでいなかった子どもについて、データがある直近年度(09年度か08年度)の人数を尋ねた。「消えた子ども」の全国規模の人数が明らかになるのは初めて。

 乳幼児健診は、市区町村が母子保健法に基づき、子どもの身体計測や診察、歯科指導、発育相談などを行う。同法上は(1)1歳6カ月~2歳(2)3~4歳の2回だが、多くの自治体が生後3カ月ごろから上乗せで実施している。

2010年9月20日月曜日

うつ病

香山リカのココロの万華鏡:うつ病の経済損失 /東京 - 毎日jp(毎日新聞)

うつ病の経済損失 /東京

 うつ病対策、自殺対策にもっと人手と予算を。

 こんなことを口にすると、「いまの日本に必要なのは景気回復。うつや自殺の対策にお金をつぎ込んだって、その費用が回収できるわけじゃないだろう」などと言われることがある。

 ところがこのほど、うつ病や自殺の対策は結果的には“お得”になる、という画期的なデータが公表された。

 発表したのは厚生労働省。

 自殺した人が亡くならなければ生涯、得られたはずの所得額やうつ病の休業にともなう所得の減少などを計算したところ、2009年だけで約2兆7000億円の経済損失が出ている、と推計されたのだ。当然、得られたはずの税収も見込めなくなる。

2010年9月18日土曜日

Japan puts cost of suicides, depression at $32 billion in 2009 - International Business Times

Japan puts cost of suicides, depression at $32 billion in 2009 - International Business Times

The comments on Japan mental health and suicide are inaccurate. There were (not “are” ) samurai warriors who, as part of their honour code, committed seppuku (the correct term in Japanese and not the colloquial misnomer “harakiri” often misused and misunderstood in English media reports) is performed by plunging a sword into the abdomen and moving the sword left to right in a slicing motion. Seppuku was officially abolished as a means of judicial punishment in Japan in 1873. Voluntary seppuku did happen on a sporadic basis from then until the end of the second world war. The last recorded incident of seppuku as a means of committing suicide in Japan took place in 1970 when the novelist Yukio Mishima committed seppuku after failing in his attempt to incite military forces to stage a coup d’etat. No corporate directors have ever “done the hara-kiri tradition”, whatever that odd and meaningless expression would try to suggest is the case.

Some companies are beginning to provide better mental health counseling at the workplace but there is no official government provision. Community psychiatric clinics were first established in the mid-1970’s by a generation of young Japanese psychiatrists who wanted to provide an alternative to hospitalization of those people suffering mental illness through community out-patient and adult rehabilitation daycare centers outside of a hospital setting.
As for the comments on what to do if you know someone is suicidal, although perhaps well intended and useful to a point, they are not enough in themselves. If someone is suicidal they need the help of mental health professionals who are trained and experienced in working with people who are depressed and suicidal. If you know someone who is suicidal encourage them to see a psychiatrist or a licensed psychologist. If they are not willing to do so contact a mental health care professional to get their advice on the situation. Also if the person who is suicidal is not willing to get professional help at this point then, if you are in a position to do so get in touch with a member of the person’s family and tell them of your concern. Do something about it and take whatever action you are reasonable in a position to do.
I think this kind of reporting does nothing to help focus on the deeper social and economic causes that brought about the extreme rise in the suicide rate in Japan and has taken the number of people here who kill themselves every year in Japan to over 30,000 for the last ten years. The initial sudden rise in the suicide rate in 1998 parallels the economic bubble years of the 1990's that led to the crash of the Japanese stock market and bankrupt companies nationwide. In America and other countries it might be a better idea to focus on how to protect citizens and provide better mental health care screening and provision for employees and others who are being affected by the fallout of the current economic meltdown and ensuing high unemployment rates, rather that piecemeal articles that focus on seppuku. In modern Japan most businessmen who commit suicide do so by hanging themselves, often alone in their own homes.

2010年9月16日木曜日

School Violence Japan

Number of cases of school violence hits a new high in Japan, IBN Live News

Tokyo, Sep 15 (Kyodo) The number of violence cases in schools across Japan increased for the fourth straight year to hit a record of 60,913 in the 2009 school year through March. Of the total, violence cases at junior high schools accounted for 72 percent, according to the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. The number of students who committed suicide stood at 165, up by 29 from a year earlier, of whom two were found to be linked to bullying, the report said.

2010年9月15日水曜日

Japanese Psychotherapy

Japanese Psychotherapy


Andrew Grimes
"Well Planted in Fertile Soil: An Introduction to Japanese Psychotherapy "

The Practice of Psychotherapy in Japan: an investigation into all psychotherapies currently being practiced in Japan, the ways and approaches of psychotherapies in Japan, where psychotherapists practice in Japan and how they utilize psychotherapeutic systems to serve the needs and wishes of their clients and patients. With an emphasis on identifying the full range of systems of psychotherapy being used within Japanese society in the treatment of emotional and psychosomatic problems and also in the treatment of problems caused by crisis in life.

a new book just being published on Japanese Psychotherapy by a JCP Psychotherapist who was trained and qualified in Japan under Japanese Senseis and who has been practicing psychotherapy in Japan for 25 years. You may be interested to read it and it is available this week from CreateSpace publisher on Amazon at this e-store:

https://www.createspace.com/3483950
And you can see a full description of this book at:

http://tokyocounseling.com/english/media/japanesepsychotherapy.html

2010年9月13日月曜日

Suicides, depression cost Japanese economy 2.7 trillion yen in 2009 - The Mainichi Daily News

Suicides, depression cost Japanese economy 2.7 trillion yen in 2009 - The Mainichi Daily News

Suicides, depression cost Japanese economy 2.7 trillion yen in 2009

Suicides and loss of employment due to depression cost the national economy almost 2.7 trillion yen in 2009, according to a Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare study released Sept. 7.

The study was presented to the government's suicide prevention measures committee by labor minister Akira Nagatsuma.

This is the first time such a project has been conducted in Japan, though a similar study was held in Britain in 1998 and resulted in major improvements to the public health system's suicide prevention strategies. Nagatsuma was familiar with the results of the British research and directed the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research to undertake the study.

2010年9月12日日曜日

世界自殺予防デー

9月10日は世界自殺予防デー、意外と知られていない自殺にまつわる数字いろいろ - GIGAZINE

9月10日はWHO(世界保健機関)が定めた「World Suicide Prevention Day(世界自殺予防デー)」ということで、自殺予防のために意識を高めようと、自殺に関するさまざまなデータや自殺を減らすにはどういった取り組みが必要なのかといった情報が公開されています。

詳細は以下から。

WHO | World Suicide Prevention Day

WHO | Suicide prevention (SUPRE)

WHO | How can suicide be prevented?

世界では、年間100万人近くの人々が自殺により亡くなっています。これは40秒間に1人地球上のどこかで誰かが自殺しているという数字です。なお、死には至らなかった自殺未遂はその20倍の件数とのこと。

Suicide Japan

Suicides, depression cost Japanese economy 2.7 trillion yen in 2009 - The Mainichi Daily News

Read Full Story Here Home > News > National News > Full Story
National News
Suicides, depression cost Japanese economy 2.7 trillion yen in 2009

Suicides and loss of employment due to depression cost the national economy almost 2.7 trillion yen in 2009, according to a Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare study released Sept. 7.

The study was presented to the government's suicide prevention measures committee by labor minister Akira Nagatsuma.

This is the first time such a project has been conducted in Japan, though a similar study was held in Britain in 1998 and resulted in major improvements to the public health system's suicide prevention strategies. Nagatsuma was familiar with the results of the British research and directed the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research to undertake the study.

2010年9月8日水曜日

自殺やうつ病

自殺やうつ病:09年経済的損失2.7兆円 厚労省初調査 - 毎日jp(毎日新聞)
自殺やうつ病:09年経済的損失2.7兆円 厚労省初調査
自殺やうつ病による経済的損失
自殺やうつ病による経済的損失

 厚生労働省は7日、自殺やうつ病での失業などによる09年の経済的損失額が推計で約2.7兆円に上るとする調査結果を発表した。長妻昭厚労相が政府の自殺総合対策会議に報告した。同様の調査は英国で実施され、その後の精神保健医療改革が自殺対策に大きな効果を上げている。日本での調査は初めて。

 調査は、英国の取り組みを知った長妻厚労相が指示し、国立社会保障・人口問題研究所の金子能宏(よしひろ)社会保障基礎理論研究部長らが実施した。

 損失額は、09年に15~69歳で自殺した2万6539人が亡くならずに働き続けた場合に得られた生涯所得額と、03年のうつ病患者数の推計値をもとにした失業給付額や医療給付額など、計6項目の総額を加え推計した。

2010年9月7日火曜日

Suicide Japan | Tokyo Counseling Services

Suicide Japan
s a clinical psychologist and psychotherapist working in Japan for over 20 years, I would like to put forward a perspective on the unacceptably high suicide numbers in Japan. Mental health professionals in Japan have long known that the reasons for the high suicide rate are unemployment, bankruptcies, and the increasing levels of stress on businessmen and other salaried workers who have suffered enormous hardship since the post-"bubble" economy hit a low point around 1997. Until that year, Japan had between 22,000 and 24,000 suicides a year. In 1998 the rate increased by around 35 percent, and since 1998 the number of people killing themselves each year in Japan has consistently remained over 30,000. The current worldwide recession is, of course, impacting Japan, so unless the new administration initiates very proactive and well funded local and nationwide suicide prevention programs and other mental health care initiatives, including tackling the widespread problem of clinical depression suffered by so many of the general population, it is very difficult to foresee the previous government's stated target to reduce the suicide rate to around 23,000 by 2016 as being achievable. On the contrary, the suffering that people who become part of these numbers have to endure may well stay at current levels. I would like to suggest that since many Japanese have high reading skills in English, any articles dealing with mental health issues in Japan provide contact details for hotlines and support services for people who are depressed and feeling suicidal. Here are two useful telephone numbers for Japanese- and English-speakers who are feeling depressed or suicidal and need to get in touch with a mental health professional qualified in Japan — Inochi no Denwa (Lifeline Telephone Service): Japan 0120-738-556/Tokyo 3264-4343

2010年9月6日月曜日

Gmail - Google Alert - Andrew Grimes Tokyo - tokyocounselingservices@gmail.com

Gmail - Google Alert - Andrew Grimes Tokyo - tokyocounselingservices@gmail.com
Bringing down the suicide rate

By ANDREW GRIMES
Tokyo

As a clinical psychologist and psychotherapist working in Japan for over 20 years, I would like to put forward a perspective on the unacceptably high suicide numbers in Japan. Mental health professionals in Japan have long known that the reasons for the high suicide rate are unemployment, bankruptcies, and the increasing levels of stress on businessmen and other salaried workers who have suffered enormous hardship since the post-"bubble" economy hit a low point around 1997.

上半期の自殺者7%減 依然年3万人超ペース - 47NEWS(よんななニュース)

上半期の自殺者7%減 依然年3万人超ペース - 47NEWS(よんななニュース)

2010年8月30日月曜日

Japan Child Abuse

Survey uncovers long-term abuse of children taken into protective custody - The Mainichi Daily News

During the survey period, 199 of the 201 child consultation centers across Japan received a total of 16,817 inquiries about abuse. Of these, the survey focused on 614 children who had been taken into temporary custody without their parents' consent, or whose parents later reversed their consent for their child to be in custody. The average age of the children was 8 1/2.

Among the children taken into custody were 38 whose lives were at risk from causes such as weakened physical condition; 158 who had been seriously abused, including those with injuries that needed ongoing medical treatment; and 254 subjected to mid-level abuse including victims of chronic violence.

A total of 146 of the children, or 23.8 percent, were taken into temporary custody three years or more after the abuse started. For another 124 children (20.2 percent) it took between one and three years for them to be taken into custody. Eighty-two were taken into protective custody between six months and a year after the abused started. For 108 children the period was between one and six months, and for 104 the figure was less than one month. Statistics for another 50 children were not available.

A total of 301 of the children, or 49.0 percent, wanted to be taken into protective custody, while 43 children didn't want to go into custody. The wishes of another 110 children could not be confirmed because of their young age.

In cases where children's lives were at risk, the number of children who wanted to be taken into custody -- six --was the same as the number of those who were against such a move.

Eleven of the 43 children whose parents had objected to them being taken into custody had been abused for a period of three or more years.

2010年6月20日日曜日

吉池 安恵

吉池 安恵



結婚カウンセリング | 東京カウンセリングサービス


日本14年、米国シアトル地区にて16年(個人開業)、計 30年の臨床経験。うつ病、PTSD、社会や文化への適応問題、自身の性格や対人関係の悩みなどの個人カウンセリング、夫婦間の問題を解決し、より幸せな結婚生活を維持するためのマリッジ・カウンセリングを行います。(国際結婚の方には英語でも対応)。自分を変えたいと願う人、人間関係の苦しみを何とかしたい人、結婚生活で悩んでいる人、よい夫婦関係を持ちたいと願っている人など、心に鬱々としたものを抱え、日々苦しんでいるみなさんのサポートを種々の療法を交え行います。一度きりの人生を心穏やかに、満足して生きていくためのお手伝いが願いです。




吉池 安恵

2010年6月8日火曜日

Psychiatric Social Workers in Japan | Tokyo Counseling Services

Psychiatric Social Workers Japan

Licensed Mental Health Professionals in Japan (pt 3 of 4)


Nationally Licensed Psychiatric Social Workers in Japan

In Japan Psychiatric Social Workers (PSW’s) are nationally licensed by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. There are strict licensing regulations for the training of these mental health practitioners and in order to be allowed ot sit the national examination to be qualified as a PSW it is necessary to have quaduated from a four year degree course in psychology from a recognized university in Japan. There has been a legal requirement for all social workers providing mental health services to be qualified, post-graduate trained and nationally licensed in Japan since April 1st April 1997. This national licensing of Psychiatric Social Workers has also on had an influence on young graduates of psychology as to their choice of career path into the field of psychotherapy. All medical institutions such as Sougo Byouin (general hospitals), Seishin byoin (psychiatric hospitals), Shinri Naika (psychiatric community clinics) and local Mental Health Welfare Centers (Hokensho) have been required by law to employ for their to be at least one PSW whenever the facility is open to the public.).

2010年5月30日日曜日

Creative minds schizophrenia

Creativity is akin to insanity, say scientists who have been studying how the mind works.

Brain scans reveal striking similarities in the thought pathways of highly creative people and those with schizophrenia.

Both groups lack important receptors used to filter and direct thought.

It could be this uninhibited processing that allows creative people to "think outside the box", say experts from Sweden's Karolinska Institute.

In some people, it leads to mental illness.

But rather than a clear division, experts suspect a continuum, with some people having psychotic traits but few negative symptoms.
Art and suffering

Some of the world's leading artists, writers and theorists have also had mental illnesses - the Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh and American mathematician John Nash (portrayed by Russell Crowe in the film A Beautiful Mind) to name just two.

BBC News - Creative minds 'mimic schizophrenia'

2010年5月18日火曜日

What is a psychiatric social workers in japan

Psychiatric Social Workers in Japan

Nationally Licensed Psychiatric Social Workers in Japan

In Japan Psychiatric Social Workers (PSW’s) are nationally licensed by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. There are strict licensing regulations for the training of these mental health practitioners and in order to be allowed ot sit the national examination to be qualified as a PSW it is necessary to have quaduated from a four year degree course in psychology from a recognized university in Japan. There has been a legal requirement for all social workers providing mental health services to be qualified, post-graduate trained and nationally licensed in Japan since April 1st April 1997. This national licensing of Psychiatric Social Workers has also on had an influence on young graduates of psychology as to their choice of career path into the field of psychotherapy. All medical institutions such as Sougo Byouin (general hospitals), Seishin byoin (psychiatric hospitals), Shinri Naika (psychiatric community clinics) and local Mental Health Welfare Centers (Hokensho) have been required by law to employ for their to be at least one PSW whenever the facility is open to the public.).

Qualifications/Legal Requirements to be a National Licensed PSW

Having at least a first degree in Psychology is one of the basic requirements to be accepted onto the one-year educational and in house training programs at one of the specialist educational institutes that have sprung up since the passing of the Act in 1997. It is a prerequisite to graduate from one of these specialist education institutes in order to be eligible to sit the examination to qualify and become nationally licensed in Japan to work in the mental health care field as a Psychiatric Social Worker. In practice some psychology graduates who have graduated with a masters level degree have also elected to train as a PSW because of the perception of greater job security and social position which is afforded in Japan to occupations which are nationally licensed. Nationally licensed professions are regarded by the public and by parents of young graduates as being more respectable as well as offering better salaries and job security. In a society where the opinion and worries of ones parents still merits great respect and consideration in the process of choosing ones career, some young psychology graduates make their career choices according to their family’s wishes as much as to their own.

2010年5月6日木曜日

Children's Homes in Japan

Children's Homes in Japan- Over Packed and Neglected

According to the National Children’s Homes Conference (NCHC), there were total of 568 homes nationwide as of March 2009. They further report that both child abuse and children being admitted to children’s homes have been continuously increasing. Both issues, as well as an increase in dysfunctional families call for serious attention.
Brief History of Children’s Homes in Japan

Children’s Homes have been called, “Jido (children) yogo (protection) shisetsu (Institution)” since 1997. The name is often times confused with “Yogo Gakko,” a school for the physically handicapped since they sound very similar. The children who make up the jido yogo shisetsu are mostly those who were abused or neglected by their parents (or guardians) unlike old orphanages which were comprised of children whose parents were deceased.

Past orphanages in Japan were called, “kojiin”, and the foundational form was established in 593 A.D. by Prince Shotoku. A few more establishments were built to accommodate children who lost their parents due to domestic wars and rebellions between powerful clans through the Edo Period (1600 – 1868). In 1879, Ishii Jyuji, a Japanese Christian, built the first kojiin in Okayama prefecture. At age 22, Ishii gave up on becoming a doctor to take care of orphans and dedicated himself to social service. He believed strongly in educating orphans instead of just feeding them. Ishii is considered a pioneer in Japan’s Children’s Welfare System. Two years after the end of WWII, Children’s Welfare Law was enacted and the name kojiin was replaced by yogo shisetsu.

In recent years, the children’s homes in Japan have been facing countless problems while the number of children needing to be admitted has been increasing; these include low wages, long working hours, and an insufficient worker to child ratio.
Increase of Child Abuse Cases

According to the Ministry of Welfare in Japan, in 2008, there were 42,664 cases of child abuse, which increased by 2,025 (5%) from the previous year. Among the case reports, the most common was physical abuse (16,343 cases) followed by neglect and refusal (15,905 cases) by parents. Children’s death caused by child abuse has decreased between 1975 and 2005; most deaths were inflicted by the biological mothers (63.3% vs. 21.6% by father).

Read more at Suite101: Children's Homes in Japan- Over Packed and Neglected http://japan.suite101.com/article.cfm/children-homes-in-japan--over-packed-and-neglected#ixzz0n9xRtyFu


Read more at Suite101: Children's Homes in Japan- Over Packed and Neglected http://japan.suite101.com/article.cfm/children-homes-in-japan--over-packed-and-neglected#ixzz0n9x9KK00


Children's Homes in Japan- Over Packed and Neglected

2010年3月27日土曜日

DV

DV:被害登録の女性救出にパト20台、ヘリも 熊本県警

 25日午前11時半ごろ、熊本県警に夫からの暴力でDV(ドメスティックバイオレンス)被害者として登録されている20代女性から無言の110番があった。急行した捜査員が熊本市内で車に乗っている夫を発見、県警がパトカー20台以上とヘリコプターで約1時間にわたって追跡し、取り押さえた。県警は男がナイフを所持していたとして、銃刀法違反容疑で逮捕した。

 逮捕されたのは女性の夫で、熊本市国府、無職、櫨川(はぜかわ)司容疑者(28)。容疑は、25日午後1時5分ごろ、同県合志市の農道で、刃渡り15センチのナイフを違法に所持したとしている。

 女性は1月に県警にDVの相談をし、熊本地裁は3月、櫨川容疑者に女性に近づくことなどを禁じる保護命令を出していた。

 熊本北署によると、櫨川容疑者は女性が110番した際、近くにいたとみられる。追跡を受けて逃走中、前方をふさごうとしたパトカーに2回衝突したり信号無視を繰り返し、午後1時ごろ合志市内で停車した。櫨川容疑者は持っていたナイフで自分の首を軽く2回切り、警察官を威嚇するような仕草をした。警察官が拳銃を構えると、ナイフを捨てたという。【遠山和宏】

DV:被害登録の女性救出にパト20台、ヘリも 熊本県警 - 毎日jp(毎日新聞)

2010年3月26日金曜日

End Fear

Japan (ChattahBox) – Japanese researchers claim they have found a way of eliminating fear in a patient using a simple injection.

University of Hiroshima researchers say that early studies on goldfish have shown the injected drug’s ability to block the fear response in the brain.

According to Professor Masayuki Yoshida, who led the research, the findings could prove extremely beneficial for the world of mental health treatment.

“One day, our irrational phobias could become a thing of the past. Imagine if your fear of spiders, heights or flying could be cured with a simple injection – our research suggests that one day this could be a reality.”

The study was conducted by training a group of fish to expect an electric shock every time a light flashed.

Each time the light hit the tank, monitors registered a slowing of the fish’s heart rates, a classic sign of fear in goldfish.

Once they registered this consistently, then administered the drug.

“We discovered that fish that had first been injected in the cerebellum with lidocaine had stable heart rates and showed no fear when the light was shone they were unable to learn to become afraid,” Yoshida explained.

The study has been published in BioMed Central’s Behavioural and Brain Functions.
New Injection Could End Fear | ChattahBox News Blog

2010年3月22日月曜日

Japanese Psychotherapy

Japanese Psychotherapy?

"Japanese Psychotherapy is the current practice of all psychotherapy modalities in Japan (regardless of the location of their origin of each specific psychotherapeutic modality) that are actually being practiced by nationally registered and nationally licensed mental health professionals in Japan, and in encompassing the full range of psychotherapeutic modalities currently practiced in Japan the true nature of Japanese Psychotherapy in the 21st Century has been established."


From "An Introduction to Japanese Psychotherapy"
© Andrew Grimes JSCCP, JCP, M.Sci. Pth.

An Introduction to Japanese Psychotherapy

2010年3月21日日曜日

Yahoo! Web Hosting: Everything You Need for a Professional Site

Ministry urging two-week vacation
Kyodo News

The government released a new guideline on working hours Friday aimed at helping workers use more of their vacation time, including taking holidays lasting about two weeks.

The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry's nonbinding guideline is aimed at curbing long working hours and improving people's work-life balance. It also calls on companies to set targets for paid holidays workers take.

A ministry official in charge of the issue urged companies not to let employees burn out, saying long working hours are a major cause of mental health problems among employees.

According to a ministry survey last year, workers in Japan took an average of 8.5 vacation days in 2008, or 47.4 percent of the average 18 days available to them.

The government is seeking to raise the percentage to 60 percent by 2012 and 100 percent in 2017.

The new guideline, in line with a Cabinet decision in December on the promotion of vacations, calls for companies to check how many days of vacation each worker takes.

2010年3月18日木曜日

国家資格

国家資格 臨床心理士

30年前にこの世界(医療及び教育)に足を踏み入れて以来、願ってきた「心理士の国家資格化」が、いよいよ本格化してきたと聞き、 久々にwebを覗いてキーワード検索してみたら、沢山の皆さんが丁寧に状況をご紹介下さり、色々なコメントを発表されているのを読ませていただいて、老境に入りつつある一カウンセラーとして、一言感想を書いてみたくなりました。
私が長年「心理士の国家資格化」を願ってきたのは、この国に暮らす誰もが必要な時に楽にカウンセリングが受けられるシステムを導入出来たらとの想いからです。楽にと云うのは、どんな小さな町でも村でも、すぐにアクセス出来、経済的にも、保険等が使えて、大きな負担にならずに受けられると云う事で、本当にシンプルな願いからです。
その意味で、もし「国家資格化」されたら、私の勝手な想像で、保健所や学校、或は医療機関でもどこにでも心理職のスタッフが配備されていて、いつでも繋がれるようになれたら、どんなに素晴らしいかと…。
叉「 国家資格化」される事で、未だに根強くある社会の中のメンタル問題に対する偏見も幾分かでも払拭されるかとの期待もあっての事です。
その結果、ここ数年の不名誉な自殺率の増加を多少なりとも食い止める事にもなる可能性も高くなりますし…長年不安定な経済状況の中で頑張って来ている臨床現場の心理士にとっても、何らかの安定性が確保されるとしたら、こんな嬉しい事はありません。その意味では、一日も早く実施される事が臨まれる次第です。
叉、心理士の質の高さについてご心配されている皆さんが多いようですが、これは、この「 国家資格化」を機に、それこそ 更新性を取り入れる等、関連諸学会の今迄の諸経験を煮詰め、改めて検討して行くチャンスでもあり、何より社会からの目も厳しくもなる訳で、正しく一人一人の責任が問われて行く事になるのかと、思います。
ただ実際、正直なところ、日々の業務をこなしながらここで又何らかの“試験”を受けると云うのは、かなりのプレッシャーである事は確かでもあり、何らかの国家試験の施行まで考えると、某大先生の言葉にすがりたくもなる心境でもあります。
だからと云って、勿論誰でもそのままパスと云う訳にはいかないのでしょうが、自分が老年に入りつつある立場だからと云う事もありますが、ヨーロッパ諸国である、「グランドペアレンティング(Grand parenting)制(何らかの国家資格が誕生する際に、既にその仕事に長年従事して来ている人達への救済措置で、それまでの学歴や実務経験等の書類審査で検討するシステム。)」なんて云うのも取り入れていただけたら、有り難いなぁと思ったりもしています。
ちょっとながくなりましたが、皆さんのコメントに触発されて思い付くまま、書いてみました。

日本臨床心理士学会

臨床心理士に出会うには

臨床心理士に出会うには (web版)

2010年3月16日火曜日

国際親権紛争

国際親権紛争 まず実態把握が必要だ

 国際結婚したが離婚し、子供を日本に連れ帰ったら相手国から誘拐罪に問われた--。実際に起きている話である。

 国境を超えた親権争いが外交問題に発展している。「国際的な子の奪取の民事面に関する条約」(ハーグ条約)へ日本も加盟するよう欧米の圧力が強まっているのだ。

 条約は、子供が居住国から連れ出された場合、親が返還を申し立てれば、相手側の政府は子供の返還や面接交渉に協力する義務を負うとしている。主要8カ国で未加盟は日本とロシアだけである。

 欧米が加盟を求めるのは、日本人の母が子供を連れ帰り、父とトラブルになる例が多いためだ。米国、英国、フランス、カナダの4カ国が180件以上あると指摘する。逆に海外に子供を連れていかれたとの相談も増えているが、明らかになった例はそれほど多くない。

 背景には、親権制度の違いがある。条約加盟国の多くは「共同親権」で、離婚後も子供は父と母の間を頻繁に行き来する。一方、日本は離婚後は「単独親権」で母親が親権を取るケースが多い。

 子供を連れ帰る母親の心理は「自分が育てて当然」なのだろう。しかもその多くが夫の暴力(DV)を訴えているという。安定した環境で暮らす子供を、なぜDV夫の元に置かねばならないのか。戻っても裁判などで差別されず養育権が得られるのか。そんな不安もあるようだ。

 確かに、「共同親権」の下で一方の親の意思を無視して子供を連れ帰るのはルール違反かもしれない。だが、自国民の権益を守るという政府の基本的な立場とぶつかる可能性があるならば、慎重に対応すべきだ。

 外務省は、外国公館から具体的に面会などの要求があれば仲介し、当事者にも話を聞いているという。だが、指摘のあったケースについて相手側も含めもっと広範にヒアリングして実態を把握すべきではないか。「民事不介入」が原則とはいえ、外交問題になっているのだ。

 条約には、子供の利益に反する場合、相手国に戻さなくていいとの規定もある。その運用実態も調べなければならない。加盟国同士で引き渡しをめぐりトラブルもあるという。ハーグの事務局に集積されている具体例を分析することも必要だ。

 鳩山由紀夫首相は先月下旬、岡田克也外相と千葉景子法相に早期に結論を出すよう指示した。だが、まだ詰めるべき点は多い。第一に優先すべきは、「子供の利益」である。

 国際結婚は珍しくなくなった。外国人と暮らし子供を育てるという決断をする重みを個々人が認識すべきなのは言うまでもない。

英訳

社説:国際親権紛争 まず実態把握が必要だ - 毎日jp(毎日新聞)

2010年3月15日月曜日

小学生の“友だち本

児童書の編集者から、「小学生向けの“友だちとのつき合い方”の本が売れているんですよ」と聞いた。

 子どものいない私には何のことかよくわからなかったのだが、書店に行ってみると、確かに、「仲間」とか「友だち」と表紙に書かれた本がいっぱいある。

 かわいらしいイラストがふんだんに使われた本には、「はじめて話しかけるときには」「ケンカしたときにメールで仲直りするには」など、友だちづき合いに関するありとあらゆるアドバイスや情報が書かれていた。絵の感じからして、主に女子が読むのだろうか。

 「いつの時代も友だちって大切なんだな」と思いながらも、「でも、友だちとのつき合い方も本で学ぶなんて」と少し複雑な気分になった。

 私自身も子どものころ、同じクラスの親友とうまくいかなくなって悩んだこともあったが、それを解決してくれる本はなかった。「あのときはどうしたんだっけ」と考えてみたが、思い出せない。

 なんとなくうやむやになり、そのうち別々の中学に進んだのでそのままになった気がする。

 ただ、今でもその友だちとは、年賀状やメールをやり取りする仲だ。つまり、時間が解決してくれた、というわけだ。

 それに比べると今の子どもたちは、問題をその場ですぐに解決しようとするのだろうか。気になる子にはすぐ話しかけて、ちょっと気まずくなったらすぐにメールで解決。「まあ、いいか」とほうっておくことはできないのかもしれない。

 そういえば、診察室にやって来る人の中にも、「私の問題を解決するのに役立つ本を紹介してください」と言う人がいる。「時間を無駄にしたくないんです。病院の帰りに本屋さんに寄って買いますから、心理学の入門書を教えてください」と“前のめり”になる人に、「そのあせる気持ちがいちばんいけません」と言いたくなることもある。

 あたりまえのことだが、世の中のことや人生の問題には、本を読んですぐに解決できることと、できないことがある。本は「へー、こんな考え方もあるのか」とあくまで参考程度にして、その通りにやったら何でも解決、と期待し過ぎないほうがいい。

 “友だち本”を読む小学生たちはどうなのだろう。「これを試してうまくいかなかったらもうおしまい」などと思わずに、ちょっと楽しむくらいの気持ちで読むならいいのだが。たくさんの本の山を前に、書店で考え込んでしまった。



香山リカのココロの万華鏡:小学生の“友だち本” /東京 - 毎日jp(毎日新聞)

2010年3月14日日曜日

2009 Human Rights Report Japan

c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment

The law prohibits such practices, and the government generally respected these provisions in practice.

NGOs and foreign diplomats reported instances of alleged physical abuse in some prisons. In February, in the civil case against Wakayama Prefecture and the state regarding three police officers convicted for the 2004 death of a suspect, the court found Wakayama Prefecture responsible and ordered compensation.

The government continued to deny death-row inmates and their families information about the date of execution. Families of condemned prisoners were notified of the execution after the fact. The government stated this policy was to spare the prisoners the anguish of knowing when they were going to die. Condemned prisoners, although held in solitary confinement for an average of almost eight years until their execution, were allowed visits by their families, lawyers, and other persons. An NGO reported that prisoners facing the death penalty were sometimes kept in solitary confinement for decades and concluded that a number of these prisoners had become mentally ill as a result.

NGOs continued to report that prison management regularly abused the rules on solitary confinement. Punitive solitary confinement may be imposed for a maximum of 60 days, but procedures allow wardens to keep prisoners in "isolation" solitary confinement indefinitely. Officials at Fuchu Prison used such procedures to keep a foreign prisoner in isolation for the past four years. Prison officials said that solitary confinement was an important tool to maintain order in prisons that were at or above capacity.

Hazing, bullying, and sexual harassment were increasingly reported as problems in the Japanese Self Defense Forces.

Prison and Detention Center Conditions

Prison conditions generally met international standards. However, several facilities were overcrowded and lacked heating. NGOs also reported that some facilities provided inadequate food and medical care. Foreign diplomatic officials confirmed numerous cases in which the prison diet was inadequate to prevent significant weight loss, including muscular mass. Cases of slow and in some cases inadequate medical treatment were documented, including in detainees and prisoners with preexisting medical conditions. Police and prison authorities were particularly slow providing treatment of mental illness. In some institutions clothing and blankets were insufficient to protect inmates against cold weather. Most prison facilities did not provide heating during nighttime hours in winter despite freezing temperatures. The lack of heating subjected the prison population to a range of preventable cold injuries, from chilblains to more severe forms of cold injury. Foreign prisoners in the Tokyo area presented to visiting diplomatic officials chilblains-affected fingers and toes of varying severity, the direct result of long-term exposure to deleteriously cold and at times freezing conditions in prison and detention facilities during the winter months. NGOs, lawyers, and doctors also criticized medical care in police‑operated preindictment detention centers and immigration detention centers.

In 2008 there were 67,672 prisoners. Men and women prisoners were held in separate facilities in prisons and detention centers. Minors were held separately from adults in prisons and regular detention centers, but regulations do not require that minors be held separately in immigration detention centers.

Prison management regulations stipulate that independent committees inspect prisons and detention centers operated by the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) and police-operated detention facilities. The committees included physicians, lawyers, local municipal officials, representatives of local communities, and other local citizens. Prisoner rights advocates reported that the committees visited MOJ prisons throughout the year. In 2008 these committees visited a total of 207 prisons and detention facilities (not including pretrial detention facilities) and interviewed 598 detainees. The committees made 659 recommendations to the prison or detention facility superintendants, of which 366 were considered implemented or in the process of being implemented. In addition, 198 recommendations were considered as requiring either further discussion or follow-up inspections, and 95 were referred to the Ministry of Justice.

In July an amendment to the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Law was passed establishing an independent inspection process for immigration detention facilities.

During the year the International Committee of the Red Cross did not request any prison visits.

d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention

The law prohibits arbitrary arrest and detention, and the government generally observed these prohibitions. NGOs continued to report instances of what appeared to be arbitrary detentions.

Role of the Police and Security Apparatus

Civilian authorities maintained effective control over the National Police Agency (NPA) and local police forces, and the government has effective mechanisms to investigate and punish abuse and corruption. There were no reports of impunity involving the security forces during the year. However, some NGOs criticized local public safety commissions for lacking independence from or sufficient authority over police agencies.

Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention

Persons were apprehended openly with warrants based on sufficient evidence and issued by a duly authorized official, and detainees were brought before an independent judiciary. NGOs claimed that warrants were granted at high rates and that detention sometimes occurred even though the evidentiary grounds were weak.

The law provides detainees the right to a prompt judicial determination of the legality of the detention, and authorities respected this right in practice. The law requires authorities to inform detainees immediately of the charges against them. Authorities usually held suspects in police‑operated detention centers for an initial 72 hours. A judge must interview a suspect prior to further detention. The judge may extend preindictment custody by up to two consecutive 10‑day periods. Prosecutors routinely sought and received these extensions. Prosecutors may also apply for an additional five‑day extension in exceptional crimes such as insurrection, foreign aggression, and disturbance. NGOs pointed out that because extensions were routinely granted, the intent of the law--prompt judicial determination of the legality of the detention--was in fact undermined.

The code of criminal procedure allows detainees, their families, or representatives to request that the court release an indicted detainee on bail. However, bail is not available during preindictment to persons detained in either police or MOJ detention facilities. Because judges customarily granted prosecutors requests for extensions, the system of pretrial detention, known as "daiyou kangoku" (substitute prison), usually continued for 23 days. Suspects in pretrial detention are legally required to face interrogation. NPA guidelines limit interrogations to a maximum of eight hours. Overnight interrogations are prohibited.

Preindictment detainees had access to counsel, including court‑appointed attorneys. Prisoner advocates said that in practice this access improved in terms of the duration and frequency. However, counsel may not be present during interrogations. Family members were allowed to meet with detainees, but only in the presence of a detention officer. Article 81 of the code of criminal conduct may, regardless of the charge, prohibit detainees from having interviews with persons other than their counsel only if there is probable cause that the suspect may flee or may conceal or destroy evidence. Detainees charged with drug offenses are routinely held incommunicado until indictment and are allowed only consular and legal access. Prosecutors at their discretion may partially record suspects' confessions, but NGOs pointed out that partial and discretionary recordings could be misleading. Police in Tokyo and 46 prefectures continued
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial

The law provides for an independent judiciary, and the government generally respected judicial independence in practice. In July the country began a lay judge (jury) system for serious criminal cases.

Trial Procedures

The law provides the right to a fair trial for all citizens and ensures that each charged individual receives a public trial by an independent civilian court, has access to defense counsel, and has the right to cross-examine witnesses. A defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law, and defendants cannot be compelled to testify against themselves.

The UN Committee Against Torture (UNCAT), NGOs, and lawyers questioned whether defendants were presumed innocent in practice. According to NGOs, the majority of indicted detainees confessed while in police custody. Safeguards exist to ensure that suspects cannot be compelled to confess to a crime or be convicted when a confession is the only evidence. In the past NGOs documented techniques used to extract confessions that include beating, intimidation, sleep deprivation, questioning from early morning to late at night, and making the suspect stand or sit in fixed positions for long periods. New NPA guidelines were created in January 2008. On April 1, the National Public Safety Commission issued regulations prohibiting the police from touching suspects (unless unavoidable), exerting force, threatening them, keeping them in fixed postures for long periods, verbally abusing them, or offering them favors in return for a confession. Defense counsel is not allowed to be present during interrogations. However, NGOs continued to report long interrogation sessions of eight to 12 hours in length, in which the detainee was handcuffed to a chair for the entire period, and aggressive questioning techniques were used.

The use of police‑operated detention centers was criticized because it puts suspects in the custody of their interrogators. The government stated that article 16 of the Act on Penal Detention Facilities and Treatment of Inmates and Detainees separates the function of investigation from the function of detention. According to government statistics, more than 98 percent of arrested suspects were sent to police detention facilities. The other 2 percent were held in MOJ-operated preindictment detention centers. More than 99 percent of cases that reached a trial court resulted in conviction. Independent legal scholars alleged that the judiciary gives too much weight to confessions, although the government disputed the assertion.

There were media reports of persons convicted on the basis of police-obtained confessions who were later proved innocent. During the year a man sentenced to life imprisonment after DNA tests led to his conviction in 1990 for the murder of a four-year-old girl in Ashikaga, Tochigi Prefecture, was released after more-accurate DNA tests exonerated him. Despite errors in the basic investigation, including autopsy findings that conflicted with the suspect's confession, the prosecutors and the courts dismissed the possibility that the confession was coerced. The same questionable DNA testing methods contributed to guilty rulings in other cases, including some involving the death penalty.

According to some independent legal scholars, trial procedures favor the prosecution, although the government disputed the claim. The law provides for access to counsel; nevertheless, a significant number of defendants reported that this access was insufficient. The law does not require full disclosure by prosecutors unless the defending attorney is able to satisfy disclosure procedure conditions. In practice this sometimes resulted in the suppression of material that the prosecution did not use in court. As a result, the legal representatives of some defendants claimed that they did not receive access to relevant material in the police record. In appeal attempts in some cases, defense attorneys were not granted access to possible exculpatory DNA evidence. The police's response in those cases was that all evidence was destroyed after the initial trial. The government's official position regarding the disclosure of evidence to defense attorneys is that any evidence, including DNA, can be disclosed through the disclosure procedure in accordance with the code of criminal procedure "if the conditions are met" (see section 4).

The language barrier was a serious problem for foreign defendants. No guidelines exist to ensure effective communication between judges, lawyers, and non‑Japanese‑speaking defendants. Several foreign detainees claimed that police urged them to sign statements in Japanese that they could not understand and that were not translated adequately. No standard licensing or qualification system existed for court interpreters, and trials proceeded even if no translation or interpretation was provided, despite the government's claims that trials cannot proceed unless translation or interpreting is provided. In Gunma Prefecture, police recruited volunteers to translate for the police during investigations.

2009 Human Rights Report: Japan

2010年3月11日木曜日

Japan Prison Mental Health

TOKYO, Japan — Whether or not Iwao Hakamada committed the gruesome murders for which he was sentenced to hang is a matter of debate. What is certain is that the 73-year-old — the world’s longest-serving death row prisoner — has come to personify the cruelty inherent in Japan’s treatment of its most heinous criminals.

Hakamada, a former professional boxer, has spent 41 years on death row for a murder that even one of the three judges who sentenced him now believes he did not commit.

The possibility that an innocent man may have spent more than four decades in prison is not the only reason why Hakamada’s case has attracted the attention of human rights groups.

Amnesty International has accused Japan’s penal system of driving condemned men insane after subjecting them to, on average, at least seven years of “cruel, inhuman and degrading” treatment on death row.



Japan Death Row | Amnesty International

2010年3月10日水曜日

Japanese Psychotherapy

Japanese Psychotherapy Definition:

"Japanese Psychotherapy is the current practice of all psychotherapy modalities in Japan (regardless of the location of their origin of each specific psychotherapeutic modality) that are actually being practiced by nationally registered and nationally licensed mental health professionals in Japan, and in encompassing the full range of psychotherapeutic modalities currently practiced in Japan the true nature of Japanese Psychotherapy in the 21st Century has been established."


From "An Introduction to Japanese Psychotherapy"
© Andrew Grimes JSCCP, JCP, M.Sci. Pth.

What is Japanese Psychotherapy?

2010年3月8日月曜日

Japan Smoking

Japan Smokings"

Officials said Monday, Japan, which is one of the world's biggest consumers of cigarettes, plans to call for a nationwide ban on lighting up in bars, restaurants and other public places.

The health ministry plans to send an advisory notice to local governments by the end of February to ask them to follow the country's initiative to fight second-hand smoke, a ministry official said.

At the moment, the central government calls on local authorities to provide separate smoking areas in public facilities such as amusement venues, schools, hospitals and department stores, hotels, train stations and banks.

"Now our ministry plans to upgrade the current separation of smoking areas to a total ban on smoking, which is a global trend," said the official, who declined to be named.

The government notice is not mandatory, the official said, adding that local authorities can decide whether to introduce local legislation so that offenders may be fined.

Smoking is still commonplace in Japanese bars and restaurants, unlike in most other developed countries. But streets, trains and railway platforms are becoming increasingly smoke-free.

Japan Seeks Nationwide Smoking Ban in Public Places

2010年3月7日日曜日

Japanese Psychotherapy

Books on Japanese Psychotherapy

Japanese Psychotherapy Books:

Title "Well Planted in Fertile Soil: Psychotherapies in Japan" by Andrew Grimes.

Sub-title: "The Practice of Psychotherapy in Japan: an investigation into modern Japanese psychotherapy practice currently in Japan, the ways and approaches of psychotherapies in Japan, where psychotherapists practice in Japan and how they utilize psychotherapeutic systems to serve the needs and wishes of their clients and patients. With an emphasis on identifying the full range of systems of psychotherapy being used within Japanese society in the treatment of emotional and psychosomatic problems and also in the treatment of problems caused by crisis in life."

Extract: "The current of psychotherapy in Japan has long been naturally moving towards all current psychotherapies being used in a form of integrated psychotherapy. The teachings of all the most leading and influential teachers of the predominate schools of psychotherapy at least since the end of the war in the Pacific have favoured an acceptance and respect for all other major systems of psychotherapy. The answers and comments provided by all respondents surveyed as part of this research on the use of all of the major methods of psychotherapy currently utilized to nurture the well being of clients and patients of all kinds overwhelming show that they vary and tailor their approach for each and every one of them. So very few practicing psychotherapists here insist on just one approach. Therefore it is a very personal and consensually concordant current that has resulted in integrative psychotherapy becoming popular in Japan too.

The very nature of Japanese culture with its Buddhist roots still deeply influencing the ways that all people relate to one another here is integrative in nature and current modalities of Japanese psychotherapy too have been adopted, adapted and encouraged to grow and advance in a spirit of harmony and cooperation between professionals and clients and patients always with a respect of the intrinsic inter-relationship of human interaction being at the heart of things." © Andrew Grimes JSCCP, JCP, M.Sci. Pth.

Japanese Psychotherapy

2010年2月10日水曜日

日本の自殺率

警察庁の発表によると、09年の自殺者数は3万2753人と12年連続で年間3万人を超えたという。たしかに、日本は自殺者数が多いと聞くが、この数字は国際的に見てどのくらい多いのだろう?

WHOによると、人口10万人ごとの自殺率の上位10カ国にベラルーシ、ロシア連邦、ハンガリー、ウクライナなどの旧ソビエト連邦諸国や旧ソ衛星国が名を連ねている中、6番目に日本の名前が挙がっている。日本の自殺率が高い背景について、自殺問題に詳しい作家の江上剛氏はこう語る。

「日本の自殺は、他国に比べて中高年男性が多いんです。うつ病を発症しやすい年齢でもあるし、リーマンブラザーズ破たん以降の不安定な経済による事業の失敗や業務への喪失感に加え、責任を1人で抱え込んでしまうからかもしれません」


世界的にも最悪レベル! 日本の自殺率はなぜ高い? - コラム - ビジネスEX

2010年2月6日土曜日

自殺防止センター

自殺防止センター


この記事を印刷

浄土真宗本願寺派:「自殺防止センター」を設立

 毎年3万人を超える自殺の防止に宗教者がもっとかかわるべきだとして、国内最大規模の伝統仏教教団である浄土真宗本願寺派(本山・西本願寺、京都市下京区)が4月、電話相談のためのNPO法人「京都自殺防止センター」を設立する。自殺に対しては「仏教の教えに反し命を粗末にしている」と考える僧侶も多く、教団レベルでの取り組みは珍しい。

 同派は08年、全国約1万の末寺を対象にアンケートを実施(回答率26%)。8割以上が自殺予防や遺族支援に「特にかかわっていない」と答え「必要性は感じるが、何ができるのか」といった悩みも多かった。一方、市民団体などからは「悩みを宗教者に聞いてほしい人も多い」との意見が寄せられた。

浄土真宗本願寺派:「自殺防止センター」を設立 - 毎日jp(毎日新聞)

2010年2月3日水曜日

子供虐待

Children's rights, judicial wrongs | The Japan Times Online

the problem is that children's rights probably have the same character as many other personal rights in Japan: Rather than being rights that bind and can be asserted against the government, they are benefices bestowed on the people by well-meaning judges and other bureaucrats. Rights that on paper seem similar to those enjoyed by people in other countries may undergo a subtle process whereby they are converted from rules government agencies are supposed to follow, into the medium by which bureaucrats tell the people what to do — civil rights often becoming civic duties.

To look at the Justice Ministry's human rights cartoon mascots, Ayumi Ken and Mamoru Ken (puns meaning "advance rights" and "protect rights"), and their posters exhorting the citizenry to "think about the feelings of others," "engender a considerate heart" and "heighten each person's awareness of human rights," one would think that human rights in Japan are a matter of some failing in the psyche of the Japanese people, rather than, for example, failings in the same system that allows Japanese police and prosecutors to detain and question suspects for long periods without access to counsel in order to coerce confessions. This system is under the supervision of the Ministry of Justice — a system that has been repeatedly criticized by the U.N. Commission on Human Rights, members of which have questioned whether the Japanese government even understands what some of the human rights agreements it has signed mean. But of course the U.N. must have it wrong: The Japanese government is in the business of telling its citizens to respect human rights, so how could it possibly be infringing them?

2010年1月30日土曜日

Japan court rejects tobacco lawsuit, notes health dangers but refuses to award damages - Health- msnbc.com

Japan court rejects tobacco lawsuit, notes health dangers but refuses to award damages - Health- msnbc.com

TOKYO - A five-year legal battle against Japan Tobacco by two former smokers and a widow has ended with damage demands thrown out, but a Japanese court for the first time clearly acknowledged the health risks of cigarettes.

The Yokohama District Court ruled Wednesday there was a link between smoking and lung cancer and other respiratory illnesses, and that smoking may be addictive.

But it rejected the plaintiffs' demand, filed in January 2005, for 30 million yen ($330,000) in damages, saying they smoked of their own will and there was no proof smoking had caused their sickness.

2010年1月29日金曜日

児童虐待の情報

匿名通報ダイヤル:2月から児童虐待の情報も受け付け

 警察庁は28日、女性の人身売買や児童買春などの犯罪情報を匿名で受ける「匿名通報ダイヤル」で、2月から児童虐待に関する情報も新たに受け付けることを決めた。容疑者検挙につながった情報には上限10万円を支払う。

 児童虐待を発見した場合、児童虐待防止法で児童相談所などへの通告義務を定めているため対象になっていなかった。だが、児童虐待事件の検挙は08年は307件(被害者は319人)で、統計を取り始めた99年以降最多を記録。家庭内の出来事は潜在化しやすいうえ、通報をためらう人も多い。

 東京都江戸川区で24日、区立松本小1年、岡本海渡君(7)が両親から虐待され死亡した事件では、近所の人が1年ほど前から怒鳴り声や泣き声を聞き、学校も昨年9月に「虐待」を把握していた。

 「匿名通報制度」は警察庁が民間団体に委託し、07年10月に運用を始めた。昨年7月からインターネットの受け付けも開始。07年10月から昨年末の受付総数は1396件で、12件、36人を逮捕・書類送検し、2件で謝礼が支払われた。

 フリーダイヤルは0120・924・839(月-金曜日、午前9時半~午後6時15分)。専用ホームページはhttp://www.tokumei.or.jp【長野宏美】

匿名通報ダイヤル:2月から児童虐待の情報も受け付け - 毎日jp(毎日新聞)

2010年1月27日水曜日

自殺者:12年連続で3万人超す 09年 - 毎日jp(毎日新聞)

自殺者:12年連続で3万人超す 09年 - 毎日jp(毎日新聞)

自殺者:12年連続で3万人超す 09年

 警察庁は26日、09年の自殺者(暫定値)が3万2753人(08年比504人増)で、12年連続で3万人を超えたと発表した。統計の残る78年以降で最多だった03年(3万4427人)より少ないが、過去5番目に多かった。長引く不況の影響が大きいとみられ、深刻な状況が続いている。

2010年1月24日日曜日

浄土真宗本願寺派:「自殺防止センター」を設立 - 毎日jp(毎日新聞)

自殺防止センター

浄土真宗本願寺派:「自殺防止センター」を設立

 毎年3万人を超える自殺の防止に宗教者がもっとかかわるべきだとして、国内最大規模の伝統仏教教団である浄土真宗本願寺派(本山・西本願寺、京都市下京区)が4月、電話相談のためのNPO法人「京都自殺防止センター」を設立する。自殺に対しては「仏教の教えに反し命を粗末にしている」と考える僧侶も多く、教団レベルでの取り組みは珍しい。

 同派は08年、全国約1万の末寺を対象にアンケートを実施(回答率26%)。8割以上が自殺予防や遺族支援に「特にかかわっていない」と答え「必要性は感じるが、何ができるのか」といった悩みも多かった。一方、市民団体などからは「悩みを宗教者に聞いてほしい人も多い」との意見が寄せられた。


浄土真宗本願寺派:「自殺防止センター」を設立 - 毎日jp(毎日新聞)

2010年1月23日土曜日

Civil Code revision targets parents who repeatedly abuse | The Japan Times Online

Civil Code revision targets parents who repeatedly abuse
Kyodo News

A Justice Ministry panel proposed Friday establishing a new legal framework aimed at restricting the authority of parents who repeatedly abuse their children, ministry officials said.

In a report filed with Justice Minister Keiko Chiba, the study group also called for giving more priority to foster parents and child-safe haven operators than to abusive parents to protect children.

After receiving the report, Chiba told a news conference she will seek advice on revising the Civil Code from her advisory body, the Legislative Council, at its general meeting on Feb. 5.

Meanwhile, the Social Security Council, an advisory body to the minister of health, labor and welfare, will begin work to revise the child welfare law and the child abuse prevention law.

The two ministries plan to submit related bills to the Diet during the next ordinary session, which convenes next January, officials said.

The Justice Ministry panel headed by Atsushi Omura, an authority on the Civil Code and a professor at the University of Tokyo, has been studying since June a new legal framework on how to prevent child abuse.

Civil Code revision targets parents who repeatedly abuse | The Japan Times Online

Japan, US discuss ways to resolve custody disputes - World - SanLuisObispo.com

Japan, US discuss ways to resolve custody disputes - World - SanLuisObispo.com

2010年1月16日土曜日

Tokyo snubs call to keep shelter, services for homeless | The Japan Times Online

Tokyo snubs call to keep shelter, services for homeless | The Japan Times Online

Tokyo snubs call to keep shelter, services for homeless
Kyodo News

An antipoverty citizens' group is asking the Tokyo Metropolitan Government to continue providing shelter and life-counseling services to hundreds of jobless and homeless people staying at a temporary shelter due to be shut down Monday.

2010年1月3日日曜日

Depression and suicide | The Japan Times Online

Depression and suicide | The Japan Times Online

The National Police Agency has reached conclusions about contributing factors in 23,490 of the suicides committed last year. The most frequently cited factor was depression (27.6 percent), as in the previous year. A government panel on measures to prevent suicide says that many suicide victims suffer from depression, have developed a dependence on alcohol or have a strong sense of guilt about something.

Prevention and treatment of depression should be the main pillar of countermeasures against suicide. Such factors as loss of employment, business bankruptcy, overwork, divorce and the death of loved ones can trigger depression.

One problem is that most people do not have sufficient knowledge about depression. Efforts should be made to educate ordinary citizens about depression and ways of coping with it. It is also important to train doctors, nurses, teachers, local government workers, counselors and corporate personnel workers to identify signs of depression early on, and ensure sufferers receive proper medical and psychiatric treatment.

LEAD: 136 local gov'ts launch year-end counseling services for unemployed+

LEAD: 136 local gov'ts launch year-end counseling services for unemployed+