Japan has appointed a 'Minister of Loneliness' after seeing suicide rates in the country increase for the first time in 11 years

I mean - shouldn’t they have called it something like “Minister of Social Engagement”? Reminds me of when they called the “Defense Department “ the “Department of War”.

Howabout the Ministry of Love?

I hope other countries can learn from this. Suicide is a global problem. More American soldiers commit suicide than die as casualties in military actions now and for several years. There is a name for an entire generation of people who lack hope - doomers. We need to begin confronting these challenges and others with policy like Japan is. It is the same with COVID. A public health crisis can not solely be fixed through the free market.

They’re lonely because they’re always working.

Working puts food on your family

It was more just an off-the-cuff “what a nice thing they did!” sentiment. :/ I also have a friend who is Japanese and yeah there’s a shit ton about their culture that sucks. But so does ours (as in, America). I was just pleased to see something positive they were doing and I think the U.S. could benefit from it too.

Not really. They have dogshit suicide rates and don’t do nearly a fraction of what America does for people and mental health— and America BARELY does anything for mental health