Posted on 05/01/2012 10:15:47 AM PDT by DeoVindiceSicSemperTyrannis
Japan's health ministry is to launch an investigation into bath-time fatalities after it was estimated that 14,000 people die every year in the tub - three times as many as those who died in car accidents.
According to the figures, 4,612 people died as a result of traffic accidents across the nation in 2011.
The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare announced the first nation-wide study into bath fatalities after a number of local authorities began collecting statistics that point to a high number of victims being elderly.
The high number of bath deaths can be traced back to the role the bath plays in Japanese families and society. The ritual of bathing in Japan is less about washing but more about relaxing at the end of the working day and, in more traditional communities and older buildings, keeping warm in the winter.
Local authorities' data suggests most of the deaths were attributable to drowning, heart palpitations, heart attacks and subarachnoid haemorrhages, the Mainichi newspaper reported.
The numbers rose significantly in the winter months, when older people move from a warm part of their home to the bathroom and suffer "thermal shock."
The government was asked to look into the problem by a number of domestic organisations devoted to bathing and the effects on health, including the Japanese Society of Balneology, Climatology and Physical Medicine, and to support research that will reduce the number of deaths caused by taking a bath.
Authorities are being urged to draw up guidelines on how to take a bath safely...
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
007 says "to be on the safe-side, make sure you have enough Geisha girls on hand when you take a Japanese bath." ;)
Good one.
Japanes Govt Makes Scuba Gear Mandatory When Taking a Bath
Japanese Govt Makes Scuba Gear Mandatory When Taking a Bath
Too much Kirin and really deep tubs!
The bathtubs are much deeper than what we are used to. It's great, like being in a hot tub.
In a comparative study it was found that the number of bathtub deaths in France was ‘zero’.
I know they have electric toilets in Japan..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6c67A0zPctc
I suppose some Japanese wunderkind has developed an “electric bath”?
So this would imply that taking baths is SAFER for older people. Or maybe that the average bath is only 20 minutes long. Or maybe Japanese only bath every 3 days. Or maybe 2/3 of the people ready to die can't take baths any more.
In any case, it doesn't seem out of line for an aging population. Assuming people die randomly throughout the day, perhaps they ought to investigate the 300,000 people or so that die during sleep. Yes, that's it. Ban sleep because it's dangerous.
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