Japan Fáilte Newly Elected ‘Minister of Loneliness’

Tomohiro Osaki, a representative of the Japan Times said that a “Minister of Loneliness” has been selected in Japan in order to control the rising suicide rates and social isolation among its residents.

In Japan, loneliness has long been an issue, which is often discussed alongside “hikikomori,” which is a term used for people who choose to live in extreme social isolation.

According to the National Police Agency report, there were 1,798 suicides in Japan in November 2020, which is an increase of 11.3% as compared to the same period the previous year.

Prime Minister of Japan Yoshihide Suga has recently appointed Tetsushi Sakamoto as the minister of dealing with Japan’s declining birthrate and promoting regional revitalization.

Prime Minister Suga had also chosen Sakamoto as his Minister for economic revitalization in September 2020.

Now, Sakamoto will oversee the government policies to deal with loneliness and isolation besides other responsibilities.

While addressing a news conference for announcing the new role, Prime Minister said to Sakamoto, “Women are suffering from isolation more (than men are), and the number of suicides is on a rising trend.”

Previously, engineers in Japan designed a robot that holds a person’s hand when he is lonely to mitigate feelings of isolation.

One of the reasons behind the spike in suicidal rates in the country is the covid 19 pandemic in 2020.

With people more socially isolated than ever, Japan saw a rise in suicides for the first time in 11 years.

In an interview with BBC, Michiko Ueda, a Japanese professor who studies suicide in the country, said that the rate of single unemployed women living alone is increasing.

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Ueda said “They have to support their own lives and they don’t have permanent jobs. So, when something happens, of course, they are hit very, very hard.”

Although, United Kingdom (UK) was the first country to appoint a loneliness minister in 2018 after a 2017 report found that more than nine million people in the UK said they often or always felt lonely.

But none of the ministers lasted for long as the role seems not much desirable.

Within duration of three years, three ministers for loneliness have been replaced.

One of the Twitter followers wanted to be the minister of loneliness of Canada.

I want to be the Minister of Loneliness for Canada https://t.co/7hoFwpdghQ

— sowetobaby (@lazyrebel_) February 24, 2021

Japan appointed a minister of loneliness. They shouldn’t give CR ideas. We already have a minister of statues, opening ceremonies and condolences.

— Desire Tablai (@DesireTablai) February 23, 2021

However, followers are also requesting new positions for different categories.

I’m a farmer of ointments and I demand a dedicated ministry of ointments to address my grievances.

What farmer are you?

— THE SKIN DOCTOR (@theskindoctor13) February 24, 2021

We too need Ministry Of Loneliness, Ministry Of Singles, Ministry of Love.https://t.co/EqTL9EjS4c

— Ashish (@AshishRanjanN14) February 24, 2021

The new minister of loneliness said that he will set up a forum by the ned of February to hear concerns from people dealing with loneliness and isolation.

Further, he added, “I hope to carry out activities to prevent social loneliness and isolation and to protect ties between people.”