Ozora talks with a woman who’d like to help his organisation, as he speaks in his office in Tokyo. Suicides are on the rise among Japanese teens and that worries 21-year-old Ozora, who grew up depressed and lonely. — AP
TOKYO: Suicides are on the rise among Japanese teens and that worries 21-year-old Koki Ozora, who grew up depressed and lonely.
His nonprofit “Anata no Ibasho”, or “A Place for You”, is run entirely by volunteers. It offers a 24-hour text-messaging service for those seeking a sympathetic ear, promising to answer every request – within five seconds for urgent ones.
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Ozora talks with a woman who’d like to help his organisation, as he speaks in his office in Tokyo. Suicides are on the rise among Japanese teens and that worries 21-year-old Ozora, who grew up depressed and lonely. — AP
Ozora’s Japanese-language chat service, run entirely by volunteers, offers a 24-hour text-messaging counseling for those seeking a sympathetic ear, promising to answer every request, within five seconds for urgent ones. — AP
Ozora feels Japan still hasn’t fully grasped the difference between a healthy sense of solitude and loneliness, which can get desperate. — AP
Ozora’s online Japanese-language chat service has grown since March to 500 volunteers, many living abroad in different time zones to provide counseling during those hours when the need for suicide prevention runs highest, between 10pm and the break of dawn. — AP
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