In reserved Japan, talking to someone called key in suicide reduction


TOKYO (Reuters) - All the phones at a Japanese suicide hot line started ringing at 8:00 p.m. on a Friday night, exactly when it opened, filling a narrow room off a Tokyo back street with the voices of those trying to help.

"Is it trouble at work, or something at home?" asked Machiko Nakayama, a hot line volunteer in her 60s, speaking softly into her headset. "You feel like you want to die?"

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