In the wide variety of alternative futures, some youth, instead of looking towards precarious work, find even less optimistic outlets from the troubles brought upon them through educational stresses. As Ozawa de Silva notes about Japan, increases in suicides and school truancies are just among the few issues hindering the development of youthful bodies in recent years (Ozawa de Silva 2008: 524). In some cases, suicide is a direct outcome of test-preparation stress. In China, “teenage suicide rates tend to rise as the gaokao nears” (Larmer 2014: 1), and in Japan, high suicide rates in youths are partly attributed to jyuken jigoku, or literally, examination hell (Ozawa de Silva 2008: 524). In other cases, bullying brings upon the impetus for self-harm. A case study conducted on thirty-five hikikomori patients, or Japanese shut-ins who have withdrawn for over six months, showed that 54 percent of cases were a result of experiencing ijime, or physical and psychological bullying, as children (Hattori 2008: 188). While education cannot account entirely for the increase of youth down this path, it clearly has an impact on those unable to succeed on the strenuous path to academic and economic success. As shown through the ways the current educational climate in East Asia affects the development of youth, it is possible that their frustration and lack of intimate connection with peers, youth decide to leave the world altogether.

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