is a retired Japanese police officer and head of an NPO that works to prevent suicides at the

Tōjinbō is a series of cliffs on the Sea of Japan in Japan. It is located in the Antō part of Mikuni-chō in Sakai, Fukui Prefecture. The cliffs average in height and stretch for .

cliffs in

Fukui Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Fukui Prefecture has a population of 778,943 (1 June 2017) and has a geographic area of 4,190 km2 (1,617 sq mi). Fukui Prefecture borders Ishikawa Prefecture to the north, Gi ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. His work and that of the NPO is believed to have saved over 750 lives. He is known as the "chotto matte" ("Wait a moment") man, for the words he says to people considering suicide.

Police career

Shige worked as a police officer for the Fukui Prefectural Police for 42 years, retiring at the age of 60. His final posting was in

Tōjinbō is a series of cliffs on the Sea of Japan in Japan. It is located in the Antō part of Mikuni-chō in Sakai, Fukui Prefecture. The cliffs average in height and stretch for .

Sakai is a city located in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. It has been one of the largest and most important seaports of Japan since the medieval era. Sakai is known for its keyhole-shaped burial mounds, or kofun, which date from the fifth century and incl ...

. He was appalled by the many corpses he had to remove from the ocean. On one of his last patrols before retirement in 2003, he met an elderly Tokyo couple who owned a pub. They had major debt problems and were suicidal. They planned to throw themselves into the sea at sunset. He convinced them not to, and called a patrol car to take them to the local welfare bureau. The local authorities simply gave the couple enough money to get to the next town. He received a letter from them, sent shortly before their suicide in

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, five days after he had encountered them. He was offended by the coldness of the authorities, and after his retirement began to patrol the cliffs to try and prevent suicides.

Suicide prevention NPO

On April 27, 2004 Shige founded ''Kokoro ni Hibiku Bunshu Henshukyoku'' (Publishing bureau for collection of writings that reach the heart), which has continued to work to prevent suicides around Tōjinbō. In 2014 it saved its 500th life.Shimoji, Tsuyosh
Suicide prevention group saves 500th life on Fukui cliffs September 14, 2014
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'' Retrieved February 15, 2016 In 2008 Shige reported a spike in suicide attempts after job losses among casual employees due to the

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, known as the "Lehman shock" in Japan. In Japan, it is not uncommon for employees to live in a company dormitory, so if workers lose their jobs they also lose their housing. The NPO owns six apartments where people can stay if they lack accommodation. During the 2016

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fad, the number of local visitors increased, reducing the number of suicidal visitors to the Tojinbo cliffs. In 2017 the group's 16 members were considering using drones to monitor the cliffs and watch for suicidal people. As of May 2017 the group had prevented 586 people from killing themselves.

Documentary

In 2015 it was reported that Shige's work would be featured in a documentary.Wilson, Scot
Retired Japanese man who saved over 500 from suicide to be featured in documentary July 20, 2015
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Japan Today ''Japan Today'' is a website that publishes wire articles, press releases, and photographs, as well as opinion and contract pieces, such as company profiles, in English. References External links * 2000 establishments in Japan English- ...

'' Retrieved February 14, 2016 In 2017, Shige and his team of volunteers at NPO were featured in a YouTube documentary by Field of Vision entitled "The Gatekeeper."

Police career

Suicide prevention NPO

Documentary

References

See also