An initiative that is both original and surprising has just been implemented in universities in the Japanese department of Yamanashi (west of Tokyo): toilet paper with suicide prevention messages printed on it. “Dear you, who are having a hard time pretending that everything is fine,” reads in blue letters on these white rolls. “You don’t need to tell us everything…but why not just a little?” »
Distribution of thousands of rolls to local universities
In addition to these kinds of messages written by a mental health specialist and accompanied by suicide prevention phone numbers, there are also soothing images on these toilet papers, such as a curled up cat. Yamanashi authorities distributed 6,000 such rolls to 12 local universities last month.
“You are alone in the toilet. We felt that it is at such times that distressing thoughts may come to mind,” department official Kenichi Miyazawa said Monday. As in many other countries, a jump in the number of suicides has been observed in Japan with the Covid-19 pandemic which has reinforced the isolation of many people. In 2020, nearly 500 children and adolescents killed themselves in Japan, a national record and almost twice as many as in 2016, according to the Ministry of Health.