25% of Japanese students are depressed, the rest are just plain silly
25 percent of students at junior high school claim to suffer from depression
MSN-Mainichi News / May 10, 2007 —A Health Ministry survey has found that one in four junior high school students suffer from depression, although the number that require medical treatment remains unknown, officials said…more...
This study is just a reflection of Japanese “maturity.” That is, most Japanese look depressed, and on the whole they revel in melancholy. Every year in Japan, they survey Japanese feelings by asking people to describe feelings with a single kanji character. The top 10 “feelings” are consistent over the years are: 1. Conceal/ endure, 2. Confused/disorder, 3. Angry/offended, 4. Depressed/melancholy, 5. Anguish/bitterness. Refer to the depressing surveys at WhatJapanThinks.com.
- 
May 10th, 2007 at 10:22 pm
Such an excellent image to summarize the story — What is that from?
May 11th, 2007 at 12:25 am
The PV for happiness by 木村かエラ (Kimura Kaela)
May 11th, 2007 at 8:04 am
http://www.shimotsuma-movie.jp
I think* it’s from the film “Shimotsuma that features th odd-couple friendship between a “rococo girl” and a “ladies girl” (biker girl).
May 11th, 2007 at 9:10 am
Thanks for the heads up!!! I found the YouTube now.
June 6th, 2008 at 1:27 pm
This whole blog is awful in the way it portrays Japan. I lived there for some time and I can really appreciate the culture and feeling of the country. America is so much more dangerous. All I see are polls saying how messed up people are, porn, and weird toys. THIS IS NOT an accurate representation and not at all like the Japan I saw. Teenagers are depressed world round. Hormone surges, becoming adults.. this really sends the wrong message.