Takumi Hara isn't ashamed about his past bouts with depression and is pedaling around Japan on a bicycle to spread the word, with a basketball in hand.

After Hara, 25, played hoops with students at local schools, he leaves them with a message. 

“If you or anyone else around you is suffering from mental health issues, please contact me at any time,” he tells them. 

Hara has battled depression over the past four years. 

On March 11, 2018, he started swallowing every liquid in his room at random. 

Hara said that while he had no desire to die at the time, he wanted to escape from his reality and free himself from all the stress in his life.

He drank shampoo, detergent, bleach and other liquids. He felt something regurgitating from his stomach and he began to lose consciousness.

DEPRESSION DURING JOB HUNTING

In March 2018, Hara was a junior at Keio University, one of the most prestigious private universities in Japan.

Hara was actively participating in job fairs and an internship program.

He had attended a private high school even though his siblings went to public schools.

“I was sorry that my tuition was so costly,” he said. “I wanted to join a large company to repay my family for their assistance.”

He was under great pressure.

Hara was the vice captain of the college basketball club and felt stress from his relationships with other members.

He was losing confidence at the time. The stress built, and he continued to have sleepless nights.

His stress and fatigue levels reached their peaks.

"I am really tired," he thought.

On March 11, 2018, he canceled an appointment at a job fair and took an unannounced absence from his club for the first time.

One club member became worried about Hara because he did not show up and could not be contacted. The member went to Hara's dorm room where he found him collapsed on the floor.

When Hara regained consciousness, he was in a hospital. He lost about 10 kilograms in just 10 days.

"I would rather just have died," Hara thought.

Later, he was diagnosed with depression. For about one month, he stayed in a psychiatric hospital.

He was worried that “some people might spread strange rumors about me. I might be seen by others as crazy.”

So, he just told his family and a few club members about his illness.

After he underwent cognitive behavioral therapy to correct his way of thinking and behavior, he recovered mentally.

Through the summer of his senior year, he received a few job offers.

"I am perfectly fine now," he thought.

Hara felt that he could not return to the person he had been if he continued to see a psychiatrist. Without his doctor’s permission, he quit going to the hospital.

After graduating from his university, he started working at an insurance company. But in less than a year, he began to feel his mental condition deteriorate again.

He was working at an office in Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture, and did not have anyone he could turn to.

His deepening depression reminded him of his earlier mental illness woes during his school days.

"I have to collect myself, and I am not doing well because I am not trying hard enough," he thought.

Hara did not want to be told by a doctor again that he had depression, so he did not go to a hospital and continued to work.

In June 2020, his family urged him to go to see a doctor, and he finally consented and visited a hospital. He was told by a psychiatrist that he had developed depression again.

He took a temporary leave of absence from his company and continued to suffer from his disorder. 

At that time, a former junior high schoolmate phoned him by chance.

When Hara told him about his illness, his schoolmate replied, “Actually, I also took a temporary leave of absence from my company due to my poor mental health condition one year ago.”

"I am not the only person who finds it difficult to tell others about having a mental illness," Hara thought.

He found that he might have been thinking about depression too negatively and considering it more difficult than necessary to see a psychiatrist.

Hara thought that more people would seek medical care if the public's view of depression changes. 

SHARES HIS EXPERIENCES WITH OTHERS

He decided to share his experiences directly with others while traveling by bicycle across Japan.

Hara quit his job, and in March 2021 he started his journey. He had pedaled across 27 prefectures through the end of 2021.

He receives online counseling from his doctor every few months.

Hara visits schools and tells students, “I am happy if you will remember me as a strange big brother who came to see you on a bicycle.”

Due to a resurgence of COVID-19 cases amid the sixth wave of infections, he now waits for the right time to resume his journey at his parent’s house in Osaka.

“I hope that society can be a place that allows people to live without feeling ashamed of suffering from depression,” he said.

Hara said that he continues to think about what he can do for others as he rides his bicycle.