Because the train is one of the main means of transportation for the Japanese, the government of the country of the Rising Sun has applied a simple but effective method to reduce the “suicide culture” here.
Trains are one of the “main” means of transportation for Japanese people. However, if asked what color lights are at train stations in Japan – would you know?
The answer is – blue.
Sounds kind of weird, doesn’t it? But this is actually the intention of the Japanese government.
It is a painful fact that the number of suicides in Japan is always very high. According to government statistics, an average of 25,000 people commit suicide each year in Japan.
The Japanese government has installed light blue lights at train stations, not yellow or white lights.
With the government’s efforts, the number of suicides in Japan in 2016 fell to 21,897 (according to The Japan Times citing the Japanese Ministry of Health) – the lowest level since 1994 when suicides occurred. are statistically.
This is so common that, in the book “The Complete Handbook of Suicide”, author Wataru Tsurumi even wrote: “Suicide is part of Japanese culture”.
And to limit and reduce this number of suicides, the Japanese government has installed light blue lights at train stations, not yellow or white lights as usual.
Blue light has a calming effect on your mind.
According to psychologists, blue light has the effect of helping your mind to be more comfortable, lighter, less thinking about negative things.
According to Mizuki Takahashi – a therapist at the Japan Academy of Color Psychology: “Light blue light – a combination of sea and sky colors – has a calming effect on people who are agitated, or haunted. affected by something in particular, in this case suicidal thoughts”.
According to statistics, since the day the green light was installed, the number of people jumping off the tracks to commit suicide has decreased significantly.
Since the installation of the green light, the number of people jumping off the tracks to commit suicide has decreased significantly.
East Japan Railway Company is one of the companies that believes in this theory – blue LEDs are fitted at all 29 train stations moving to Tokyo’s Yamanote central station, and “impact” to at least 8 million passengers per day. The results show that the number of people who commit suicide – jump off the tracks while the train is running has decreased much.
A research report published in the Journal of Affective Disorder in 2013 (four years after the first light was installed) found that the suicide rate in blue metro stations dropped by 84%.
That’s why every time you go to a train station in Japan, don’t be too surprised that the lights here are all green!