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Thank you for the A2A. Yes, bullying is common in Japan - just as common as 25 years ago, and just as common as most countries with comparable population and class size/number of students per teacher. It’s most common between 4th grade and junior high school (9th grade).While it’s always difficult to assess the exact number of incidents because many cases go unreported, here’s a graph on bullying case numbers between 1985 and 2010. (It looks like the case numbers jumped up in 2006, partly because the Ministry of Education changed the definition of bullying that year. Also in years when reporting by the press heated up due to certain incidents, numbers tend to go up due to the increased pressure on schools.)Blue: Elementary (1–6th), Purple: Junior High (7–9th), Pink: Senior High (10–12th), Orange: Special EdNot to make light of the situation, but just like how people think buses must be dangerous after some accidents in the press, as the penetration of information gets better with increased press coverage/TV/internet, the public’s perception becomes “it must be more pervasive in the present day.” Also Japan gets more press coverage than most countries.When a group of international researchers (Peter K Smith, Yoji Morita, et al.) studied childhood bullying in 22 countries around the world, they did not find a particularly higher prevalence in Japan. That’s not to say it’s not common; only that it’s as common as other countries.When you look at bullying by grade, the number of reported incidents peak at 7th grade (中１).Studies have also shown that at higher grade levels, bullying becomes more long-term. In junior high school, bullying that last for 1–2 academic terms become most common.From L: Under 1 week; 1wk - 1mo; about 1mo; under 2 terms; about 1yr; over 1 yr.From top: Elementary overall; 5th grade; 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th grade; All Jr. HighThe aforementioned researcher Yoji Morita has proposed 4-party structure that exists in bullying, which includes “いじめっ子 (bully)”, “いじめられっ子 (bullied child)”, “観衆 (audience)”[those who cheer them on], and “傍観者 (bystanders)”[those who act as though they saw nothing].From his research, in Japan the biggest difference appears to be the fact that “傍観者 (bystanders)” increase as children grow older. Compared to other countries like England and Netherlands, the number of students who try to intervene rapidly declines in Japan after 7th grade. The number of “傍観者 (bystanders)”, who act as though they didn’t see it, increases.｢傍観者｣の出現率の学年別推移[Number of “Bystanders” by Grade](From L: 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th grade)Blue: Japan, Pink: England, Orange: Netherlands｢仲裁者｣の出現率の学年別推移[Number of “Interceders” by Grade](From L: 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th grade)Blue: Japan, Pink: England, Orange: NetherlandsWhereas in other countries (in England and Netherlands anyway), the number of students who try to intervene tends to increase as students age.In a culture where we are taught not to speak up (“the nail that sticks out gets hammered in”; the best policy is to keep your head down), that policy also goes for relationship with friends. If you speak up, you are at risk of being targeted next.At the time of the study, there were 2,679 students (elementary - high school) who were not going to school due to bullying. (In comparison, 160,000 students are said to stay home from school each day to avoid being bullied in the U.S.)Bullying is not a simple problem, and there’s not a simple solution. It’s certainly more common than we would like to see, and there is no doubt teen suicides are often attributed to bullying. It’s a huge societal problem.On the other hand, it’s too easy to criticize from the sideline, and say teachers are not trying. My brother is a school teacher; he was bullied growing up, and I know he tries every single day to make his students’ life better. He did not have a single day off in summer (except for Sundays). People tend to blame teachers for “not handling the situation properly”, but it makes me wonder, “How are children growing up at home, before they become bullies?”

When I was learning to fly (nearly 20 years ago), as I had young family responsibilities, I took a long hard look at how dangerous flying was going to be for me and whether I was being fair on my family risking my life up in the air.Taking commercial flight out of the equation (which are incredibly safe) I did some rough beer mat calculations on general aviation accident statistics and came up with the figure that general aviation has a similar crashing rate to motorbikes in terms of approximate miles per crash (very rough approximation figures). Don’t forget that there aren’t very many light aircraft flying in comparison to numbers of motorbikes out there. So I figured that light aircraft flying is about as safe as motorcycling - statistically speaking. But that isn’t the whole picture. You then have to ask yourself - How many accidents are brought on the pilots by their own behaviour?Every single aircraft accident gets reported on the AAIB (in the UK) or NTSB (in the US). During the years I was flying, I read the unbiased AAIB accident report of every accident and asked myself if I thought I could have found myself in that situation. Most aircraft accidents are just damage to the aircraft. You will find that only about 10%-20% cause any injury and only a further 10%-20% of this lead to fatalities.Looking at the reports, something becomes quickly clear. The type of accident that I felt that I could find myself involved in (due to low hours flying and inexperience) is the over bounced touch down (porpoising) or a runway overrun or damage during a forced landing. In nearly all cases of this accident type there is minimal personal injury. I was happy to take the risks associated with this type of accident.Fatal accidents are nearly always high energy impacts. Stalling / spinning in, controlled flight into terrain or hitting something stationary at high speed. Nearly all of the fatal accident reports I read, I was fairly certain that I would never have got myself into that situation. The exception is the mid-air collision. That is the one fatal scenario which I felt that I could get caught up in. But Mid-air collisions are still very rare and good airmanship (good look out and good listen out on the radio for flight information) reduces your risk further. I felt that the risk of death by mid-air to myself was low enough so I was prepared to accept that risk and I learnt to fly.Light aircraft flying is not that dangerous, but like all aviation, it is very unforgiving on mistakes.

Everyone thought Joan Risch had the perfect life.After all, in 1961, she had everything any woman could want.She was beautiful. She was married to a handsome executive. She had two lovely children. And she lived in an idyllic, peaceful neighborhood full of friendly neighbors.One of these neighbors was Barbara Barker. Like Joan, Barbara was a housewife, with a son around the same age as Joan’s four-year-old daughter. The two women would often have their children play together while they chatted in the driveway, maintaining a tentative, though genuine, friendship.Barbara never admitted it, but she was a little fascinated by Joan. Before Joan had met and married her husband, it was rumored that she had weathered a difficult life. There were neighborhood whispers that both of Joan’s parents had died in a suspicious fire when she was a child, leaving Joan to grow up with her aunt and uncle.But if Joan suffered any ill-effects from her childhood, she certainly didn’t show it. Instead, Joan always had a smile on her face, forever maintaining an image of perfection.That is, until all of that would shatter one fateful afternoon.The house of Joan Risch.Only a few days before Halloween, while Joan’s husband was away on business, Barbara brought her son to Joan’s house for a playdate. This was a common occurrence, but as Barbara’s son began to play with Joan’s daughter in the yard, Barbara noticed something was different.Joan seemed distracted. Instead of approaching Barbara for a chat, as she usually did, Joan turned her back to her and began to snip at the bushes lining the property with a pair of garden shears.Deciding that Joan was too busy to talk, Barbara went back inside her own home across the street. However, only an hour later, she looked up through the window to see Joan leading the children to Barbara’s house. As Barbara watched, Joan motioned for the children to continue playing in Barbara’s yard, before turning to walk briskly back to her own home.My, Barbara thought sympathetically. Joan must be so busy today, she barely has time for the children.But, only half an hour later, Barbara noticed something new that struck her as odd.Across the street, she saw Joan appear hurrying from her parked car in the driveway towards the garage. She was wearing a trench coat over her clothes, and she was holding something red in her outstretched arms.Barbara frowned, and then, deciding Joan was probably just playing a game with the children, turned away from the window.Over an hour passed, and with many of the household chores done, Barbara decided to go out on a shopping trip. After dropping Joan’s daughter off at Joan’s house, believing Joan was already inside, Barbara took her own children into town and made some quick purchases before returning home.She had just walked through her front door to put down her shopping bags when she heard a timid tapping from behind her.Puzzled, Barbara went to the door and opened it. Standing on her front porch, looking pale and shaken, was Joan’s daughter.“Why, hello!” Barbara said, a little surprised. “Darling, what are you doing here? Where’s your mother?”Joan’s daughter looked up at Barbara with big eyes. “Mommy is gone,” she said. “And the kitchen is covered with red paint.”“Red paint?” Barbara frowned. “What do you mean, darling?”The girl simply stared at her. Barbara sighed.“Well, alright,” she said. She stepped out onto the porch. “Why don’t you show me?”Dutifully, Joan’s daughter turned and tottered down the porch steps. As Barbara followed her across the street, Barbara noticed Joan’s car was still in the driveway, with Joan nowhere in sight.But it was only when Barbara entered the house and stepped into the kitchen that she realized something was horribly, horribly wrong.There was blood everywhere. On the floor in dark puddles, on the walls in smeary handprints and streaks. A table was overturned, and in the middle of the kitchen was Joan’s telephone, lying in a wastebasket. It had been ripped from the wall.Hand over her mouth, Barbara skittered around the puddles of blood and froze in her tracks. Lying on the kitchen counter was an opened telephone directory book, turned to a page with the words “EMERGENCY CONTACTS” printed at the top. But no numbers were written inside.Suddenly, a wail pierced the air. Joan’s baby, only two years old, had awoken from his nap and was beginning to cry upstairs.Some of the blood smears in Joan Risch’s kitchen.The police came quickly, only to be confronted by a distressed Barbara. Perplexed by the disturbing scene, they proceeded to interview all of the other residents in the area. But, while this should have given them answers, the responses left the police more confused than ever.Some neighbors claimed to have seen an unfamiliar car parked in Joan’s driveway soon before her disappearance. Others thought they saw Joan walking alone along a highway being constructed nearby, her legs splattered with something dark they couldn’t identify.But, it wasn’t until several days later that some new, intriguing evidence appeared.A local reporter, digging through some library records, discovered that Joan had checked out no fewer than twenty-five books from her local library only a few months before she vanished.And every single book was about murders and disappearances.In fact, as Joan’s husband admitted, the very book Joan had been reading soon before she went missing had been a story about a woman vanishing from her home, leaving mysterious blood stains behind.This new information whipped the neighborhood into a frenzy. Had Joan staged her own disappearance? Perhaps she had grown tired of her monotonous housewife life, deciding to run away for a fresh start.Either way, Joan’s husband was heartbroken. In hopes that Joan would someday return, he never moved away from their home, choosing to raise their children in the same house by himself. He died in 2009, never finding out what happened to his wife.And yet, Joan Risch’s memory lives on, serving as a strange, mystifying tale still waiting to be solved.Image Source 1Image Source 2Image Source 3