Nobu Jo (城ノブ, October 18, 1872 – December 20, 1959) was a Japanese Christian philanthropist, based in

Kobe Kobe ( ; , ), officially , is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. With a population of around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's List of Japanese cities by population, seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Port of Toky ...

. She was head of the Kobe Woman's Welfare Association, and gained international attention in the 1920s for her

suicide prevention Suicide prevention is a collection of efforts to reduce the risk of suicide. Suicide is often preventable, and the efforts to prevent it may occur at the individual, relationship, community, and society level. Suicide is a serious public healt ...

campaign of signage and personal intervention.

Early life

Nobu Jo was born in

Ehime prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Shikoku. Ehime Prefecture has a population of 1,334,841 and a geographic area of 5,676 km2 (2,191 sq mi). Ehime Prefecture borders Kagawa Prefecture to the northeast, Toku ...

on October 18, 1872. She was the daughter of a doctor. She was educated at a Christian mission school in

Matsuyama 270px, Matsuyama City Hall 270px, Ehime Prefectural Capital Building is the capital city of Ehime Prefecture, on the island of Shikoku, in Japan and is also Shikoku's largest city. , the city had an estimated population of 505,948 in 243,541 h ...

Career

Jo was founder and head of the Kobe Woman's Welfare Association (Kobe Fujin Dojokai). She was known for her suicide prevention campaign. Beginning in 1916 near Suma, she placed large, well-lit signs in high-risk places, including train stations and bridges. The signs advised suicidal visitors to stop, to wait, and to visit Jo's home or office, if they were experiencing despair. Jo believed that many suicidal people in the city experienced stress, poor health, poverty, and social isolation, and that these underlying issues might be resolved or relieved without loss of life. She received letters thanking her for the signage, and was credited with saving thousands of lives. Jo and her organization also started a kindergarten, and assisted

domestic violence Domestic violence is violence that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes r ...

survivors. She sheltered hundreds of women from abuse in a Kobe residence she established for the purpose, and once telling an angry man with a knife, "You may have your wife back just as soon as you become a decent man and deserve her." She helped women arrange education, employment, housing, travel, and childcare, but also offered spiritual guidance and counseling. "Her efforts are untiring, her sympathies wide, her methods effectual, as she carries on her work of saving women from suicide", declared an Australian newspaper in 1936. Her work continued through World War II and into the postwar era, even adding a retirement home for older women. Jo grew deaf with age, was injured in a fire during the war, and was described as "frail" and "lame" by visitors in her later years.

Personal life

Nobu Jo was married in 1903. She died in 1959, aged 87 years.

References

External links

A photograph of an elderly Nobu Jo with one of her signs
surrounded by younger women and children, from the Kjeld Duits Collection, MeijiShowa. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jo, Nobu 1872 births 1959 deaths Japanese Christians People from Kobe Japanese social workers People related to suicide prevention