| By Shino Yuasa
Tokyo-Alarmed by a rise in people jumping to their deaths in front of trains, some Japanese rail operators are installing special blue lights about station platforms they hope will have a soothing effect and reduce suicides.
As of November, East Japan Railway Co. has put blue lights emitting diode, or LED, lights in all 29 stations on Tokyo's central train loop, the Yamanote Line, used by 8 million passengers each day.
There is no scientific proof that the lights actually reduce suicides, and some experts are skeptical they will have any effect. But others say blue does have a calming effect on people.
"We associate the color with the sky and the sea," said Mizuki Takahashi, a therapist at the Japan Institute of Color Psychology, a private research center that was not involved i n the lighting project. "It has a calming effect on agitated people, or people obsessed with one particular thing, which in this case is committing suicide."
Suicide rates in Japan have risen this year amid economic woes, and could surpass the record 34,427 deaths in 2003.
Last year, nearly 2,000 people committed suicide in Japan by jumping in front of a train, about 6 percent of such deaths nationwide.
In Tokyo, the number of suicides at stations run by East Japan Railways rose to 68 for the year through March from 42 two years earlier. |
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| Today I returned to reading my Bible on a daily basis after taking a break for almost a month. Hopefully I will come back with a renewed heart and mind. So here it goes.
Today I read:
Daniel 1:1-2:49
Psalm 135:15-21
Proverbs 29:10
1 Peter 5:1-14
My favorite verses are 1 Peter 5:8-14
Be sober, be vigilante, because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have sufffered for a while, perfect, esteablish, strengthen, and settle you. To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.
-I draw a lot of strength from these words. |
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| It is a beautiful Sunday!
Yesterday was my mother's 83rd birthday! She looked much better yesterday than she has over the past couple of weeks.
Knocked on Raymond's door to let him know I was home. |
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| "A Christmas Carol" is a very entertaining movie! Four stars. |
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True
Lifetime