As Japan Sees An Increase In Suicides During The Covid Pandemic, One Man Continues His Mission To Save Lives

TOJINBO, JAPAN - FEBRUARY 23: Yukio Shige sits in the doorway of the rice cake shop that doubles as his office as he feeds the cats that he keeps to comfort people he has saved from suicide at Tojinbo cliffs on February 23, 2021 in Tojinbo, Japan. Yukio Shige, a 76-year-old former policeman of 42 years who often attended the area during the course of his work, began patrolling the cliffs in retirement after growing frustrated at the failure of the authorities to address the number of suicides there. He now runs a small team of volunteers including fellow ex-police officers who walk the cliffs several times a day looking for vulnerable people who they assist by offering long-term help including accommodation and dispute resolution. Japan has witnessed an increase in suicides during the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic with 4 percent more people taking their own lives in 2020 than the year before. Official statistics showed that more people died from suicide in October 2020 than from coronavirus between all of January and November. Women have been particularly badly affected with figures showing an increase of almost 15 percent on the previous year. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)