As if bereaving families don’t suffer enough without being handed a hefty bill to add to their woes.
Now it is rumoured that Japan Railways (the nation’s largest train operator) doesn’t actually charge the families. It says it does, and the families are asked to go along with the lie, but in reality no money is exchanged. The idea being that burdening their family with a huge debt will be enough to deter some people from taking such drastic action. Or rather cynically you could suggest that it will at least tempt them to jump in front of a train run by another operator. Perhaps the real motivation behind Japan Railway’s supposedly compassionate policy?
But like I said, this is only a rumour. As far as I’m aware, families are handed huge bills, and sadly they are expected to pay. And as the above quote says, this could be as much as 8 million yen. A massive amount of money.
dr Dave says
Actually, Ed Jacobs once mentioned ( http://www3.tky.3web.ne.jp/~edjacob/saq.html#jr%20suicide ) that the real deal was not as heartless as it sounds:
In fact, only money from inheritance or *insurance* can be appropriated by train companies through such practice. The family estate itself is most definitely out of reach.
This deterrent is supposed to work in particular for the many people who resort to a life-insured suicide/train accident in the hope of securing their family’s financial future.
I’ve even heard rumours of loan sharks and yakuzas “helping” bankrupt clients pay back their debts this way. only rumours though.
At any rate, I’m not sure how any insurance company would not have long incorporated a clause excluding suicide from their policy… but I suppose “accidents” are also a possibility.
Lee says
Thanks for the link. Very interesting.
And yeah, I’m pretty sure that the insurance companies must have long since changed their policies on certain ‘accidents’.
Yet whatever the deterrents in place, there are still a disturbing number of ‘disruptions’ on the Chuo line in Tokyo.
dr Dave says
Yea, Ed Jabob’s site is full of interesting stuff that even native usually do not have an answer for :o)
To keep with the hearsay editorial line, I was once told that one of the reason the Chuo-sen was so “popular” among suicide candidates, was that, on a decently clear day, Mitaka has a very nice view of Fuji-san…
Ah, see Mount Fuji and die…
billy says
…again you leave me gobsmacked…
Lee says
I recall reading something once about the sight of Mount Fuji in the morning being a sign of death. Something along those lines anyway. But it ties in with the view from Mitaka.
I’ve also heard that the Chuo-sen has some ‘good’ spots for hitting the express train. Something which really doesn’t bear thinking about.
And then there’s the sound of the railroad crossing. The “ding ding ding” noise is said to have such a profoundly depressing effect on some people that it causes them to leap in front of the train.
But again, I don’t know how much truth there is in all this. And the noise of the railroad crossing is by no means unique to the ever so ‘popular’ chuo-sen.