The Complete Manual of Suicide (完全自殺マニュアル, Kanzen Jisatsu Manyuaru, lit. Complete Suicide Manual) is a Japanese book written by Wataru Tsurumi. He is the writer on the problem of "hardness of living" in Japanese society.
It was first published on July 4, 1993, and sold more than one million copies. In the postscript the author says: "To think that at the worst crucial moment one can escape from the pain by committing suicide, one can live for the moment easier. So by distributing this book, I want to make this stifling society an easier place to live. That is the goal of this book. And I never intend to encourage readers to commit suicide."
Although this book is a manual, the author explains his philosophy throughout and opposes the social pressure to live strong. In every suicide method, he rates different aspect of suicide such as painfulness, gruesomeness of the body, probability of failure and costs in event of failure, and so on. The fact that one can easily identify the least painful and easiest method of suicide was controversial at the time of the publication.
Since the book was intended to be a manual, the author did not spend too much space on discussing the reasons and philosophy behind suicide, although he does rhetorically pose the question "Why must one live?". Wataru simply lays out the methods of suicide one by one and then analyzes each of them in detail.
This 198-page book provides explicit descriptions and analysis on a wide range of suicide methods such as overdosing, hanging, jumping and carbon monoxide poisoning. The book provides matter-of-fact assessment of each method in terms of the pain it causes, effort of preparation required, the appearance of the body and lethality. It covers 11 suicide methods:
Each chapter begins with a graph assessing the method in question in terms of painfulness, time/effort required, the appearance of the body, trouble/inconvenience to others, impact and deadliness. Each of these matters is rated by 1–5 skulls, with 5 skulls indicating the highest rating.
Public reaction
Because the Japanese criminal code censors only graphical depictions of the sexual organs, this book was not censored by the government. Some prefectures designated the book as yuugaitosho (book harmful to youth), which restricts the sale of books to minors, while some prefectures, such as Tokyo, decided against doing so. There are many suicides where the book was found along with the body, including several cases of the suicides of junior high school students. The book neither encourages nor discourages suicide, and as well does not tell those considering suicide to seek help, though wordings such as "completely painless" and "marvelous experience" are used to indicate that certain methods are less painful and more fatal than others. Moreover, the book shows that certain popular methods of suicide have very low success rates. For this reason, some argue that since its publication the book has made suicide attempts more fatal. Some attribute Japan's high suicide rate not just to the number of people who attempt suicide but also to the fact that people use more fatal methods,[1] though to what extent the book has contributed to this trend is unknown.
This book became popular among under thirties. After the intense criticism and debate, the author subsequently published the second book, Our Complete Manual of Suicide (僕達の完全自殺マニュアル, Bokutachi no "Kanzen Jisatsu Manyuaru"), ISBN 978-4-87233-153-0, where he published fan letters and hate mail he had received. This second book somewhat helped shift the public attention to the various reasons some people commit suicide, and the controversy died down eventually. The book is still widely available.
^Levi, F; La Vecchia, C; Lucchini, F; Negri, E; Saxena, S; Maulik, P. K.; Saraceno, B (2003). "Trends in mortality from suicide, 1965–99". Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica. 108 (5): 341–9. doi:10.1034/j.1600-0447.2003.00147.x. PMID 14531754. S2CID 32483595.
May 20, 2023
complete, manual, suicide, 完全自殺マニュアル, kanzen, jisatsu, manyuaru, complete, suicide, manual, japanese, book, written, wataru, tsurumi, writer, problem, hardness, living, japanese, society, first, edition, coverauthorwataru, tsurumioriginal, title完全自殺マニュアルcountr. The Complete Manual of Suicide 完全自殺マニュアル Kanzen Jisatsu Manyuaru lit Complete Suicide Manual is a Japanese book written by Wataru Tsurumi He is the writer on the problem of hardness of living in Japanese society The Complete Manual of SuicideFirst edition coverAuthorWataru TsurumiOriginal title完全自殺マニュアルCountryJapanLanguageJapaneseGenreHow toPublication date1993Media typePrintPages198ISBN978 4 87233 126 4OCLC845651040It was first published on July 4 1993 and sold more than one million copies In the postscript the author says To think that at the worst crucial moment one can escape from the pain by committing suicide one can live for the moment easier So by distributing this book I want to make this stifling society an easier place to live That is the goal of this book And I never intend to encourage readers to commit suicide Although this book is a manual the author explains his philosophy throughout and opposes the social pressure to live strong In every suicide method he rates different aspect of suicide such as painfulness gruesomeness of the body probability of failure and costs in event of failure and so on The fact that one can easily identify the least painful and easiest method of suicide was controversial at the time of the publication Contents 1 The book 2 Public reaction 3 See also 4 ReferencesThe book EditSince the book was intended to be a manual the author did not spend too much space on discussing the reasons and philosophy behind suicide although he does rhetorically pose the question Why must one live Wataru simply lays out the methods of suicide one by one and then analyzes each of them in detail This 198 page book provides explicit descriptions and analysis on a wide range of suicide methods such as overdosing hanging jumping and carbon monoxide poisoning The book provides matter of fact assessment of each method in terms of the pain it causes effort of preparation required the appearance of the body and lethality It covers 11 suicide methods Overdosing Hanging Self defenestration Slashing the wrist and carotid artery Collision Gas poisoning Electrocution Drowning Self immolation Freezing MiscellaneousEach chapter begins with a graph assessing the method in question in terms of painfulness time effort required the appearance of the body trouble inconvenience to others impact and deadliness Each of these matters is rated by 1 5 skulls with 5 skulls indicating the highest rating Public reaction EditBecause the Japanese criminal code censors only graphical depictions of the sexual organs this book was not censored by the government Some prefectures designated the book as yuugaitosho book harmful to youth which restricts the sale of books to minors while some prefectures such as Tokyo decided against doing so There are many suicides where the book was found along with the body including several cases of the suicides of junior high school students The book neither encourages nor discourages suicide and as well does not tell those considering suicide to seek help though wordings such as completely painless and marvelous experience are used to indicate that certain methods are less painful and more fatal than others Moreover the book shows that certain popular methods of suicide have very low success rates For this reason some argue that since its publication the book has made suicide attempts more fatal Some attribute Japan s high suicide rate not just to the number of people who attempt suicide but also to the fact that people use more fatal methods 1 though to what extent the book has contributed to this trend is unknown This book became popular among under thirties After the intense criticism and debate the author subsequently published the second book Our Complete Manual of Suicide 僕達の完全自殺マニュアル Bokutachi no Kanzen Jisatsu Manyuaru ISBN 978 4 87233 153 0 where he published fan letters and hate mail he had received This second book somewhat helped shift the public attention to the various reasons some people commit suicide and the controversy died down eventually The book is still widely available See also EditFinal Exit by Derek Humphry The Peaceful Pill Handbook by Philip Nitschke Euthanasia deviceReferences Edit Levi F La Vecchia C Lucchini F Negri E Saxena S Maulik P K Saraceno B 2003 Trends in mortality from suicide 1965 99 Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica 108 5 341 9 doi 10 1034 j 1600 0447 2003 00147 x PMID 14531754 S2CID 32483595 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title The Complete Manual of Suicide amp oldid 1151717771, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
