Human Body Accidents (人身事故)

A few days ago, a friend and I were rushing to catch our usual train. When we reached the platform, she shushed me as someone made an announcement (in Japanese of course) over the speakers. Afterwards, she tells me casually, "the train is late. Somebody committed suicide." I froze for a moment with my eyes wide open and my mouth hanging. I can't even point out which one shocked me the most-- the fact that such an incident is still announced to the public... Or the reaction (or lack of) of the general public to this kind of announcement. I already know how common suicide cases are in Japan, but this one struck a different chord.

My friend told me that this is a common reason for delayed trains and advised to listen to announcements in the future. The term for it is "jinshinjiko" or if translated directly, "human body accident". It's a euphemism, though everyone understands that it means suicide. If it's a failed suicide or if someone dropped something accidentally on the tracks, a different announcement would be made.

My mind was blown. 

There's another term, "shinju", which means double suicide. My initial reaction was, "WHAT?! There's another kind of suicide and you actually have a term for it?!" This concept was completely foreign to me, and similarly, the person telling me about this was dumbfounded that I have never heard of it. Shinju is commonly done by lovers. Going back in time when the Japanese weren't allowed to marry across social classes, those who were forbidden to marry would commit double suicide instead, in hopes of being together in the after-life. But later on, shinju would apply to families as well. A mom killing her child, a dad killing his child, and even extending to a full family suicide. There's also a kind of shinju that's forced-- one wants to die and the other is just forced to share the same fate (I have no idea how this happens by the way...)

And finally, she tells me a new term, "isagiyoi", which doesn't have a direct translation in English but she explained to me as "dying beautifully" or "dying with grace". Along with this came an analogy of cherry blossoms falling from branches, breaking into petals and scattering all over the ground. Everyone can generally find this beautiful, but the Japanese perspective is that of a beautiful death. Talk about a paradigm shift.

This morning, the train was delayed, and the word "jinshinjiko" was used once again.
And life, paradoxically, went on.