Steady Fall In Suicides Offers Glimmer Of Hope In Japan

By Ken Moritsugu and Mari Yamaguchi, San Francisco Chronicle: World
Thu, 03/23/2017 - 2:13pm

TOKYO — Fewer Japanese are taking their own lives, a positive sign in a country with one of the world’s highest suicide rates. The government has made a determined effort to tackle the issue, starting with national legislation in 2006. Consumer loan laws have been revised to try to keep people from taking on too much debt, while awareness campaigns have helped bring the issue into the public eye. A closer look at the data shows that the main factors driving both the rise to more than 30,000 and the drop back to close to 20,000 were health issues and financial problems. Even with the decline, Japan’s suicide rate of 17.3 per 100,000 people in 2016 remains high compared with most other countries. The still-high suicide rate means Japan is a difficult place to live, a society that is not kind to troubled people, said Yutaka Motohashi, head of the government-funded Japan Support Center for Suicide Countermeasures. “Suicide prevention is not a job for experts and special people supporting the cause, but it’s for everyone,” he said.

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