'Listeners' seeking to reduce suicides

TOKYO - All the phones at a Japanese suicide hotline office started ringing at 8 pm on a Friday night, precisely at opening time. The narrow room off a Tokyo back street was filled with the voices of those trying to help.

"Is it trouble at work, or something at home?" asked Machiko Nakayama, a hotline volunteer in her 60s, speaking softly into her headset. "You feel like you want to die?"

In Japan, a place known for personal reserve, experts and volunteers say allowing people to express their innermost feelings has helped reduce suicides by nearly 40 percent from their 2003 peak.