The pressure to be perfect turns deadly for celebrities in Japan

From the outside, Yuko Takeuchi seemed to have a golden life.

从外界看来，竹内结子似乎拥有闪闪发光的人生。

Yuko Takeuchi

She  had won Japan's top acting award three times and had recently given birth to her second child.

她曾三次获得日本顶级表演奖项，并且最近才生下第二个孩子。

Takeuchi, 40, died late last month, apparently in a suicide.

40岁的竹内结子于上个月底逝世，死因据称为自杀。

No one can fully know what private torment might have lurked beneath the surface, but in a Japanese society that values 'gaman' - endurance or self-denial - many feel pressure to hide their personal struggles.

没人能够完全了解表象之下可能暗藏着怎样不为人知的痛苦，但在重视“我慢”（gaman），即忍耐或克己的日本社会中，许多人承受着需要隐藏个人艰难处境的压力。

The burden is compounded for celebrities whose professional success depends on projecting a flawless ideal.

而能否建立完美无瑕的模范形象，决定着明星的职业成就，因此这种压力对于他们来说尤为沉重。

The reasons for any individual suicide are complex.

任何一个人自杀的原因都是复杂的。

And many of the strains felt by the Japanese are universal: They, like many others, feel the ruthless demands of social media, where people feel they must cultivate a narrative of eternal success and happiness.

而日本人感受到的各种紧张和焦虑则是共通的：他们和许多其他地区的人一样，感受到了社交媒体冷酷无情的索取，在网络上人们发觉自己必须打造一个展现长久的成功和幸福的故事。

Even away from social media, the Japanese tend to project a positive public front.

即使在社交媒体之外，日本人也倾向于以积极的形象示人。

For celebrities, the normal societal pressures can be magnified by the expectations of millions of fans.

对于明星来说，一般的社会压力会被数百万的粉丝的期待而放大。

And unlike in the United States, where celebrities now talk more openly about seeking out psychological help, such behavior is largely taboo in Japan, which has been slower to develop mental health services, despite some improvement.

与美国不同的是，在美国，明星会更公开地谈论寻求心理帮助这件事；而在日本，这基本上是个禁忌话题。尽管情况有所改善，但日本发展心理健康服务的速度和美国相比一直较慢。

"If you are a person in spotlight and the media finds out that you are receiving mental health support, that would play badly for you and your career, " said Tamaki Tsuda, a television producer.

“如果你是一个公众人物，而媒体发现你正在接受心理健康方面的帮助，那将对你个人和你的事业产生不利的影响。“，电视制片人津田玉明表示。

"If you go out once for mental illness, that's the image that will be tacked on to your brand forever."

“如果你曾被曝出过有精神疾病，这种印象就会永远烙在你身上。”