pokemon suicides

In March 1996, following the release of Pokémon Red and Green 1.0, 104 youngsters aged 10 to 15 committed themselves in Japan. Some people committed suicide by hanging themselves, while others hurled themselves off tall buildings or had their wrists cut off. What was the one thing they all have in common? According to their parents, they were all addicted to the game. There was a report that listening to the Lavender Town's music inspired minors to commit suicide. According to this urban legend, high-pitched binaural beats had an effect on children's brains, yet adults were immune to the frequency, similar to the mosquito test. "The Lavender People Syndrome," as it was dubbed, was a condition that caused youngsters to commit themselves. The narrative spread over the internet, enlivened by all kinds of supposition, like the immediate threat of the still-circulating game cartridges, which were directly responsible for the murders. The suicide of one of the programmers, Chiro Miura, and the gruesome legacy he left behind received a lot of attention.

The problem of juvenile suicide in Japan has nothing to do with video games and a lot to do with the enormous strain that teenagers face: the fear of failing in school is so intense that the young agony that exists in any culture here becomes obsession and horror.