{"id":161546,"date":"2021-02-22T19:02:44","date_gmt":"2021-02-23T00:02:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=161546"},"modified":"2021-02-22T19:14:05","modified_gmt":"2021-02-23T00:14:05","slug":"japanese-prime-minister-appoints-minister-of-loneliness-to-combat-rise-in-suicide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/japanese-prime-minister-appoints-minister-of-loneliness-to-combat-rise-in-suicide\/","title":{"rendered":"Japanese Prime Minister Appoints \u2018Minister Of Loneliness\u2019 To Combat Rise In Suicide"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fjapanese-prime-minister-appoints-minister-of-loneliness-to-combat-rise-in-suicide%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=161546&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/86FF6CAA-006B-4E9E-94EB-4CEE2BC2EE93_4_5005_c.jpeg?w=1200&#038;h=800&#038;ixlib=react-9.0.3\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" \/><\/div>\n<p>Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has appointed a \u201cminister of loneliness\u201d to his Cabinet in order to combat the rise of suicide that has taken place in the country due to the pandemic. Earlier this month, Suga reportedly chose Tetsushi Sakamoto to take on the role in addition to his work \u201ccombating the nation\u2019s falling birth rate and revitalizing regional economies,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.japantimes.co.jp\/news\/2021\/02\/21\/national\/japan-tackles-loneliness\/\">The Japan Times<\/a> reported.<\/p>\n<p>With isolation connected to lots of social difficulties including suicide, poverty and hikikomori (social recluses), the Cabinet Office also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.japantimes.co.jp\/news\/2021\/02\/21\/national\/japan-tackles-loneliness\/\">reportedly<\/a> established a task force that will address the problem of loneliness across different ministries, including by looking into its impact.<\/p>\n<p>The move comes as new numbers were released by Japan\u2019s National Police Agency that showed 20,919 people in Japan committed suicide in 2020. This is an increase from the previous year, making it the \u201cfirst year-on-year increase in 11 years.\u201d The rise is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.japantimes.co.jp\/news\/2021\/02\/21\/national\/japan-tackles-loneliness\/\">reportedly<\/a> largely due to a significant increase in suicides among women and young people.<\/p>\n<p>Suga told Sakamoto at a meeting when he tapped him that \u201cWomen are suffering from isolation more (than men are), and the number of suicides is on a rising trend. I hope you will identify problems and promote policy measures comprehensively.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>At a news conference after the meeting, Sakamoto said, \u201cI hope to carry out activities to prevent social loneliness and isolation and to protect ties between people.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Prime Minister told the Lower House Budget Committee earlier this month that people from all walks of life, including older people who are at home and university students who cannot attend classes in person, are feeling more and more isolated in the era of COVID-19.<\/p>\n<p>In taking this step, Japan follows the example of the United Kingdom that implemented a similar <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2018\/01\/17\/world\/europe\/uk-britain-loneliness.html\">measure<\/a> in 2018.<\/p>\n<p>In January 2018, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2018\/01\/17\/world\/europe\/uk-britain-loneliness.html\">The New York Times<\/a> reported,<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><em>More than nine million people in [Britain] often or always feel lonely, according to a 2017 report published by the Jo Cox Commission on Loneliness.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>The issue prompted Prime Minister Theresa May on Wednesday to appoint a minister for loneliness.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cFor far too many people, loneliness is the sad reality of modern life,\u201d Mrs. May said in a statement.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cI want to confront this challenge for our society and for all of us to take action to address the loneliness endured by the elderly, by carers, by those who have lost loved ones \u2014 people who have no one to talk to or share their thoughts and experiences with.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>In January 2020, before the pandemic hit the United States resulting in intense lockdowns and a pause on normal life, a survey showed that more than three in five Americans were lonely. A report by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cigna.com\/about-us\/newsroom\/studies-and-reports\/combatting-loneliness\/\">Cigna<\/a> claimed that \u201cloneliness is at epidemic levels in America.\u201d Since then, mental health has been a focus of many in the United States and around the world as the coronavirus pandemic took a toll on the mental stability of many people.<\/p>\n<p>Last August, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/mmwr\/volumes\/69\/wr\/mm6932a1.htm\">CDC<\/a> reported on the effect of the pandemic on mental health. The findings showed that during late June 2020, 40% of U.S. adults reported struggling with mental health or substance use, 31% reported anxiety\/depression symptoms, and 11% seriously considered suicide.<\/p>\n<p>The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is open 24 hours a day: 800-273-8255 or you can visit their website <a href=\"https:\/\/suicidepreventionlifeline.org\/\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><em><span>The Daily Wire is one of America\u2019s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a<\/span><\/em> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/subscribe\"><span>member<\/span><\/a><span>.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has appointed a \u201cminister of loneliness\u201d to his Cabinet in order to combat the rise of suicide that has taken place in the country due &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2273981,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/86FF6CAA-006B-4E9E-94EB-4CEE2BC2EE93_4_5005_c.jpeg?w=1200&h=800&ixlib=react-9.0.3","fifu_image_alt":"Japanese Prime Minister Appoints \u2018Minister Of Loneliness\u2019 To Combat Rise In Suicide","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-161546","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/86FF6CAA-006B-4E9E-94EB-4CEE2BC2EE93_4_5005_c.jpeg?w=1200&h=800&ixlib=react-9.0.3","fifu_image_alt":"Japanese Prime Minister Appoints \u2018Minister Of Loneliness\u2019 To Combat Rise In Suicide","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161546","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=161546"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161546\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2273981"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=161546"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=161546"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=161546"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}