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‘Their cries, their wishes, their hopes… I feel a sense of duty towards them.’
With about 70 suicides per day in 2015, Japan has one of the highest suicide rates in the developed world. At Tojinbo in Fukui Prefecture – notorious for its ‘suicide cliffs’, where numerous people have ended their lives – the retired policeman Yukio Shige has taken a hands-on approach to addressing the social issue. Alongside volunteers at his Tojinbo Nonprofit Organisation Support Center, Shige patrols the cliffs for anyone who looks distraught, and invites them to his nearby café, where he offers food, an opportunity to talk over their problems and longer-term support if necessary. Over the past 12 years, Shige’s organisation has been credited with saving some 550 lives, even as more and more people have flocked to the cliffs, which have become something of a morbid tourist attraction.
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Wellbeing
Through a poetic account of childhood trauma, one woman reclaims her past
28 minutes
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Politics and government
‘Without a poster, you don’t exist!’ – on the curious political banners of Mumbai
20 minutes
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Earth science and climate
A biologist on the sorrows of documenting the Great Salt Lake’s collapse
6 minutes
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Thinkers and theories
Jeremy Bentham was consumed by creating a perfect prison. Here’s the result
4 minutes
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Film and visual culture
The old-time cinema experience endures in a quiet corner of Japan
5 minutes
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Gender and identity
‘I didn’t fall in love with a couple of body pieces’ – on marriage and transition
3 minutes
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Logic and probability
Chew over the prisoner’s dilemma and see if you can find the rational path out
6 minutes
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Architecture
The radically impractical 18th-century architect whose ideas on beauty endure
19 minutes
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Sports and games
The brutality and beauty of the West African martial art of ‘dambe’
15 minutes