The target is included in the government's new five-year guidelines for suicide prevention, adopted at the day's cabinet meeting.

In Japan, the number of people who committed suicide last year decreased for the seventh straight year to stand below 22,000 for the first time in 22 years.

But the government stressed in the new guidelines that the country remains in "a state of emergency," partly because minors who kill themselves have not decreased and suicide is still the leading cause of death for people in their 20s and 30s. It thus worked out measures for preventing young people from committing suicide.

In 2015, the suicide rate, or the number of suicides per 100,000 people, stood at 18.5 in Japan, higher than 7.2-15.1 for other G-7 countries.

The government aims to bring down the figure to 13.0 or lower by 2026.

In the guidelines, the government noted that many of suicides are deaths after being driven into helpless situations. (Jiji Press)