Yukio Saito pats the main staircase banister rail of the building that houses the Tokyo Lutheran Church in Iidabashi, explaining, "We are the same age, 68."

He points then to a net that hangs in the stairwell. "Some of those seeking help have been desperate. We keep it as a reminder."

Yukio is one of the founder members of Inochi no Denwa, Japan's volunteer telephone lifeline and counseling service for the potentially suicidal. IND was established in 1971 by Ruth Hetcamp, a German missionary helping aged prostitutes with support, shelter and counseling. Ironically suicide rates were at their lowest back then, but still she regarded a telephone hotline as a useful service.