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32,249 suicides reported in japan in 2008; depression leading cause

Thursday 14th May, 10:17 AM JST
Kyodo News

TOKYO —The number of people who committed suicide in Japan in 2008 remained above 30,000 for the 11th consecutive year, with depression continuing to top the list of reasons, a National Police Agency survey showed Thursday. The number of suicides in the reporting year stood at 32,249, down 2.6% from the preceding year, the NPA said.

Suicides attributed to depression totaled 6,490, representing about 28% of 23,490 suicides for which reasons were made clear due to notes left by those who killed themselves or the knowledge of people close to them.

The NPA revised the categorization of reasons and motives for suicide in 2007. Under the new categorization, suicides are divided into 50 reasons.

In 2008, depression-linked suicides were followed by 5,128 over physical ailments, 1,733 over debts from multiple lenders and 1,529 over other debts, said the NPA.

Bullying-linked suicides came to 16, up two from the previous year. The figure includes 13 for those aged up to 19, up three from 2007.

By age, suicides were most common among people in their 50s with 6,363 cases.

Suicides among those in their 70s, for whom data were disclosed for the first time, totaled 3,697. The figure for those aged 80 or older stood at 2,361.

The number of younger people who killed themselves increased in the reporting year. Those in their 30s came to an all-time high of 4,850. Those in their 20s totaled 3,438, and those aged up to 19 came to 611.

In 2008, Yamanashi Prefecture continued to mark the highest suicide rate of 41.1 per 100,000 people among Japan’s 47 prefectures, followed by Aomori, at 36.9, and Akita, at 36.6. Yamanashi has the Aokigahara Jukai forest, which has become a popular place for suicides since a novel that ended with a heroine killing herself in the forest was published in 1960.

The NPA said the number of people who committed suicide using hydrogen sulfide totaled 181 in the January-March quarter of this year, compared with 29 for 2007 and 1,056 for 2008.



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The irony in Japanese society is that beneath the social harmony, the homogeneity, the elegant social graces is an undercurrent of personal emotional turmoil. As noted in this report, suicide among the young is increasing. Sometimes they do it as a pact. Many of the young who end their lives leave suicide notes identifying the persons who have driven them to such an impasse.

I believe that the collapse of  the economy, the inadequacy of social protective net, uncertainty about the future--all related factors--are the main reasons for the spike in suicide.

On the surface, Japan seems unruffled by the turmoil in the market. The continuing construction of highrises in our city seems to negate the grim economic statistics being announced in the papers. But in truth, people are being emotionally and spiritually dislocated by these dramatic changes in their society.

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Dong Enzo,

I really admire the breadth of your academic interests.

Offhand, I agree that very structured lives such as characterizes Japanese society lead to the build-up of stress and pent-up emotions that eventually break the valve and lead to social anomie like suicide, random stabbing sprees, or pushing innocent passengers on the way of an oncoming train.

There is very little spontaneity in this society. Even the most romantic couples don't hold hands nor say "I love you." People try to suppress their raw emotions and subsume them under ceremonial social courtesies. You could practically hear someone bowing to his knees and apologizing to another person for some social offense, and a few meters away hear him curse that same person.

One can easily feel alienated in this society. The young, who are still in search of their place in the world, are being under constant pressure at home and at school to fit the social mold. Study, find job, marry--the same pattern we all go through but is being pursued here as if in a straitjacket.


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