[Cedar]

There is a Japanese movie called "Suicide Club". very disturbing.

One thing I noticed when I was in Japan was that they report local suicides on the local news (the one I saw was about a random old man who got laid off so he hung himself in his apartment).

Most media outlets in the US don't report suicides (unless if it's a famous person) because they don't want to to enlighten anyone who might be thinking about doing it.

Suicide in Japan is not religious. Sure, they do have a history of harakiri/seppuku, kamikaze being honorable, but I don't think modern day suicide is done for honor or a bigger purpose.

Many are due to layoffs, bullying, business failures, loss in meaning of life, etc. It's also not considered a 'criminal' act.