Dr. Yusuke Narita, 37, who teaches courses in economics and statistics at the university, first floated the idea during an online news program in December 2021, according to reports.
He also mentioned the term ‘seppuku,’ a form of ritualistic suicide that involves stabbing one’s belly with a sword, slicing the stomach and turning the blade to ensure a fatal injury.
The act originated in ancient Japan from samurai warriors who sought to die with honor rather than be captured.
‘I feel like the only solution is pretty clear,’ Narita told Abema News in Japanese.
‘In the end, isn’t it mass suicide and mass “seppuku’’ of the elderly?’ he added, referring to the practice of disembowelment utilized by dishonored Samurai in the late 19th century.
The professor’s incendiary remarks touched a raw nerve in a country where kamikaze pilots were revered for dying in a blaze of glory during World War II.
In a new interview with New York Times, Narita said his comments had been ‘taken out of context’ — saying he was referring to efforts to push older people out of leadership positions in business and politics.
‘I should have been more careful about their potential negative connotations,’ he told the paper about the phrases ‘mass suicide‘ and ‘mass seppuku,’ saying they were ‘an abstract metaphor.’
‘After some self-reflection, I stopped using the words last year,’ Narita added.
Some fear that Narita’s views are gaining traction in a country where older generations have traditionally been honored, NY post reports.
In 2013, then-Finance Minister Taro Aso said the elderly should ‘hurry up and die’ to spare the nation the cost of their medical care.
Last year, a dystopian movie by Japanese filmmaker Chie Hayakawa called ‘Plan 75’ imagined salespeople offering elderly citizens an incentive to self-euthanize and no longer be a burden to society.
