Year: 2009 Source: Official Journal of World Association of Cultural Psychiatry, v.4, no.1, (2009), p.28-32 SIEC No: 20090212

Suicide is generally thought to be a personal behavior, however many suicide clusters have been seen all over the world. We have quite a unique behavior of suicide pact, which is called a ÔShinjyuÕ, in Japanese society. There is a variety of shinjyu. The latest word is ÔNet-shinjyuÕ, which means a group suicide where members are gathering through the internet. It became a social issue as the numbers of those completing suicide especially among the young generations have increased since 2003. Net-shinjyu is completely different from other ÔshinjyusÕ (the traditional suicide pact) where people had a close relationship between themselves. Some authors point out that there is a correlation between the changing of group suicide and the rapid structural change of society, which involves cultural change.