This week, on "Ningen Yuyu" (Educational, Monday-Thursday, 7:30 p.m.), NHK will explore the malaise that is afflicting many young Japanese women right now. The four-night series, "Hyoryu suru Shojotachi (Drifting Girls)," will use conversations with experts and documentary footage to show how many young women suffer from low self-esteem and depression. What's perplexing about the problem is that it isn't limited to any particular socioeconomic profile. Malaise cuts across the entire demographic, regardless of family stability, school performance or economic well-being.
On Monday, the show will look at the shocking rise in self-mutilation among women in their teens and 20s, who often slash their wrists out of a sense of desperation, not to kill themselves but, on the contrary, to makes themselves feel more alive. Featured is a popular Web site for "wrist-cutters" called Restless Heart that receives up to 40 messages a day.
Tuesday's show will profile the woman who launched the Web site. After she became a minor media star, her diary was published. She seemed more focused and was upbeat about embarking on a career as a writer, but when publication problems ensued she sank back into depression and killed herself.