FOCUS: Troops' suicides weigh on Japan defense forces+

TOKYO, Sept. 18 Kyodo - The Japanese Self-Defense Forces are struggling unsuccessfully to curb suicides of their members as the issue has been a serious problem which has haunted the
240,000-member organization for years.
A total of 83 members of the SDF killed themselves in fiscal 2007 through March
2008 and the ratio of suicides stood at 34.4 per 100,000 people.
On the surface, the ratio of SDF personnel suicides does not seem remarkably
high as the figure is smaller than that for men in the general public, which
was 37.7. Some 95 percent of the SDF personnel are men.
But experts and some officials of the Defense Ministry warn the situations
surrounding suicides in the SDF are serious given the stability of the
employment and salaries as public servants.
On top of that, the 34.4 ratio was much higher than the corresponding 14.9
figure for the U.S. military in 2007.
Experts say behind the problem are stressful circumstances in the workplace and
insufficient support especially for young members who are more likely to commit
suicide.
But older SDF officers say there is no silver bullet and it is difficult to
understand the thoughts of young personnel, who the officers say are heavily
dependent on Internet and cellphone communications.
Defense Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi sees the need for dealing with the high
suicide rate in the SDF, recognizing the matter not as a problem only involving
the SDF but as a phenomenon seen in wider society.
''The disposition of people of late, including those outside the SDF, has
changed from the past,'' Hayashi, 47, told a recent press conference.
''How to maintain morale among personnel is a crucial task'' and many other
countries have similar problems, Hayashi said.
The old Defense Agency made a special proposal for the mental health problem
involving SDF personnel in 2000 and set up an intra-ministry task force three
years later in an effort to curb the number of suicides among the SDF.
But the number of suicides by SDF personnel jumped to 94 in fiscal 2004 from 75
the previous year and kept topping 90 three years in a row, according to the
ministry officials.
By force, 48 were from the Ground Self-Defense Force with some 150,000 members,
23 from the Maritime Self-Defense Force with about 45,000 members, and the
other 12 were from the Air Self-Defense Force with another 45,000 members in
fiscal 2007.
The causes of the suicides were categorized as ''unknown'' in more than half
the cases in the year, followed by financial troubles and the lack of
self-confidence, the officials said.
In late August, a high court handed down a ruling that shocked the ministry and
the SDF in a damages suit over the suicide of an MSDF member in a destroyer in
1999. The parents filed the suit claiming bullying was behind their son's
death.
The Fukuoka High Court stopped short of determining the MSDF member died
because of bullying. But the court held the government responsible for the
death of the MSDF man, ruling that the suicide was caused by insulting remarks
and actions by one of his superiors.
The plaintiffs' attorneys say it was the first court ruling recognizing the
responsibility of the authorities for the suicide of an SDF member. The
government did not appeal it.
''We must take the ruling seriously...But we don't know what to do
immediately,'' a ranking GSDF officer said on condition of anonymity, referring
to difficulties communicating with younger personnel.
''An officer I know told me a story: He had scolded one of his subordinates
during a drill. After the drill, the officer thought that his language might
have been too strong and tried to invite the man whom he chided for a drink,''
the officer said.
''But the officer only found the young guy had already called his mom
immediately after he returned to his room and told her how he was treated
during the drill,'' he said.
An MSDF officer said many personnel are under stronger pressure and stress
while on duty than the past.
Most vessels and offices of the MSDF have been chronically short-staffed since
Japan started to dispatch many units overseas for the refueling mission in the
Indian Ocean to help U.S.-led antiterrorism operations in and near Afghanistan.
''Many think Japan only has two MSDF ships in the region, a fleet supply ship
and a destroyer, for a mission that lasts several months. But we need to have
two vessels prepared as replacements and need more as standbys,'' the officer
said.
''We have fewer ships for operations in and around Japan. But the amount of
work is unchanged,'' he said.
Veteran education scholar Toshiyuki Shiomi, president of Shiraume Gakuen
University, indicated some people in the SDF seem relatively ''pure'' or less
flexible compared with those in the general public and are not good at getting
rid of stress.
''Most people kill themselves because of general financial trouble. But in the
SDF, many commit suicide saying things like, 'I cannot serve the country
anymore,''' Shiomi said.