Suicide Rate Falls for 8th Year in Japan

June 19, 2018

Tokyo- The number of suicides per population of 100,000 came to 16.8 in Japan in 2017, down for the eighth consecutive year, hitting the lowest level on records dating back to 1978, a government white paper showed on Tuesday.

The total number of people who killed themselves was also down for the eighth year in a row, decreasing 576 from the previous year to 21,321, according to the white paper on suicide prevention.

Despite the downtrend, Japan still faces higher suicide rates than other advanced countries.

In particular, the white paper pointed to a "serious" situation regarding suicide by young people.

The suicide rate for people under 20 years old inched up 0.2 point to 2.6 per population of 100,000, having remained almost flat since 1998. School, health and family problems were cited as the three most common reasons for suicide by people in this age group.

Meanwhile, declines in suicide rates from the peak levels were milder among people in their 20s and 30s than those among people in their 40s and over.

The government is working to strengthen measures to prevent young people from committing suicide, including support through social media.

The health ministry conducted a suicide prevention campaign in March, following a shocking incident last year in which nine young people were found dead at an apartment in Zama, Kanagawa Prefecture, including those who met the suspected offender through their Twitter posts suggesting their wish to die.

In the campaign month, the ministry was approached by a total of 10,129 people for advice through social media. Age information was obtained on 7,469 of the total, with 42.7 pct found to be under 20 and 39.4 pct in their 20s.

The white paper said that demand for advice on suicide prevention through social media certainly exists, especially among young people. Jiji Press