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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 28, 1963)
8 B THURSDAY. FEBRUARY 28. 1963 MEDFORD MAIL TRIBUNE, MEDFORD, OREGON Japanese Suicide Prone, Is Claim Br CHARLES R. SMITH Tokyo -dlPB- Almost every Japanese schoolboy knows and loves-the tale ol the 47 Ronln. It is a story of mass suicide, 47 brave Samurai warriors who slashed their stomachs in true hara kiri fashion and died without flinching at the orders of the Tokugawa Sho gun more than two and a half centuries ago. This was Japan's most fa mous mass suicide. It is re corded in history books and has been the basis for hun dreds of stories, plays and movies. On Aug. 22, 1945, a week after World War II ended with Japan's defeat, 10 mem bers of the ultra-nationalist Japan Productive party sat in a circle on the ground in downtown Tokyo. As they chanted their apologies to Em peror Hirohito for losing the war and bringing humiliation to him and the nation they pulled pins from hand gre nades and blew themselves to bits. Wive. Too Less than a week later, three wives of these victims went to the same spot and shot themselves to death. There have been no more such mass suicides in Japan these days. But there has been no slackening of the rate of self-destruction. Every 30 minutes somebody dies by his own hand in Ja pan. For every three who suc ceed, two fail. Some who succeed are frus trated lovers. Some are disap pointed students. Some take their lives be cause of financial troubles. Some want to end their exist ence because of crippling in juries. Some are like the teen-age high school girl who killed herself because she could not get rid of pimples that spotted her face. Some are like Mitsuru Sasa gawa. Seeking Entry Sasagawa was 21 when he died. He was studying hard lor the tough entrance exami nations that Japanese students face when seeking entry into the major colleges. He had failed twice. He was studying every spare moment. His father, Koei Sasagawa, told his son to rest and not study so hard when the youth complained of the constant noise of a pile driver at a con struction site near their home. One day the youth rushed outside and raced down the street. Before anyone knew what he was doing1 or could stop him, young Sasagawa thrust his head under the pile driver, which crushed his skull like an eggshell. Some of the suicides are like 24-year-old Shigeyukl Asano, of a small town in Aichl Prefecture. Despondent because of his poor health, As ano smashed a window in a Nagoya television tower and leaped to his death. Sleeping Pills Some who try but fail are like 22-year-old Shojl Ume kawa, a frustrated movie and television actor. Umekawa took an overdose of sleeping pills. A friend found him be fore it was too late. Like so many of those who succeed, Umekawa's reason for wanting to end his own life was unrequited love. There are many popular su icide spots in Japan. One of the most popular is the crater of Mt. Miliara, an active volcano on Osliima is land, south of Tokyo. It be- j came popular in (lie llKSO's j when two high school girls leaped to their deaths after seeing a sad show by (he ! famed all girl Takarazuka troupe. Double Suicides ! It was in the 1030's that 1 double suicide became popu lar. Frustrated lovers usually ' were the victims. So popular did double sui cide become in the l!)30'i that a popular song was comxscd about it. The song was dedi cated to a Kclo university student and his lover who took poison and lay down to die together on Sakatavama hill at Oiso while watching the sun go down over the ocean. What drives the Japanese to take their own lives at such a rate, second only to East Germany? The Japanese Welfare min- Circuit Court to Hear Sex Cases Portland -(TO - Dist. Atty. George Van Hoomissen aid Wednesday that all sex of fense cases in the county in volving children under 16 would be prosecuted in cir cuit court. He said he ordered the ac tion, viiich was recommended by the Legislative Interim Committee on Social Prob lems, to avoid delays in prosecution and to protect child witnesses from having to testify in more than one istry says the main reasons appear to be "nervous break downs, family troubles and just plain boredom." Some others go more deeply into the causes. One writer suggested that "whatever the various rea sons, it is obvious that Japan is suicide-prone, just as cer tain people are accident prone. The country has long been fascinated by the sub ject. The literature is full of it; so is the theater, the films and even television. It is even socially acceptable." Interior Spokesmen Deny Office Move Washington -IUPD- Interior Department officials have "categorically deneid" any in tention of moving Bonneville Power Administration and Bureau of Indian Affairs of fices out of Portland, Sen. Wayne Morse (D-Ore.) said to day. But Morse said the Treas ury Department intends to go ahead with plans to transfer its division of disbursement office from Portland to Og den, Utah. Morse said he had voiced "strong objections" to the transfer, which will affect about 25 employees. Radiation Research Center Started on University Campus Corvallls-A new Radiation Research Center" that will be the key facility in future high level radioactivity research in Oregon has been started at Oregon State university. The $755,000 Center also will be used to train advanced students in the fields of nu clear engineering, nuclear sci ences, and radiation health, President James H. Jensen pointed out. A tremendous need exists for such highly trained workers, he added. Oregon Slate's efforts in radiation research date back 15 years when the chemistry department started work with radioisotope labelled com pounds as tracers. Now, there are about 50 research projects under way on campus involving radio active materials or radiation NOW YOU KNOW By United Press International The practice of adding an extra day to every fourth year (Leap Year) was originated by the astronomers of Julius Cae sar in 46 B.C., according to the Encyclopedia Brittanica. They determined that since the solar year's length was 365 days and six hours, the extra hours should be added up into a full day every fourth year. effects. They include studies on sterilization by radiation of meat and seafood, insect resistance to chemicals, radia tion resistant bacteria, effects of radiation on the nervous system, and use of radioiso topes as a research tool in biological sciences, agricul ture, forestry, physical sci ences, engineering, etc. House Laboratories The new Center will house a number of laboratories de signed for "absolute control of radiation hazards," Dr. Chin H. Wang, director of the Radiation Center, emphasized. All high level radiation work will be done at the Cen ter; low level radiation studies will be continued in the various departments. A Campus Radiation Safety committee is managing an Atomic Energy Commission "broad byproduct license," under which such research projects are carried out. Radiation health- or the implications, good and bad, that radiation has on humans - will draw special attention in the expanded program of work planned after the Cen ter is completed, Wang said. Equipment will be provided to do such basic work as measuring nuclear fallout in the Oregon atmosphere; checking radioactivity levels in foods; measuring minute amounts of radioactivity, de rived either from natural or artificial sources; and pro ducing high levels of ionizing radiation for studies in radia tion science. Used Successfully - In recent years, too, radio isotopes have been used suc cessfully as a diagnostic means and therapeutical means for a number of com mon diseases, Wang added. 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