Suicides in Japan hit record low in 2019; down for 10th year in row

@rainyday

Good post. My Japanese coworker believes that the younger generation have lowered their sights to achievable mediocrity. The stress is loosening.

I don’t know if that is a good or bad thing.

I imagine a lot of the reason for the decline is tied to the reason it went up so high in the 90s in the first place. During that decade you had massive numbers of bankruptcies, both business and personal, as part of the fallout from the bursting of the asset bubbles in the early 90s. So you had a lot of people going from massive success during the bubble to failure, way more than usual, which probably drove more to suicide. You also had a kind of double whammy effect since it wasn’t just people losing jobs, but also never getting one in the first place - people who graduated in the 90s entered a job market that just didn’t have jobs for them which also added to the problem.

Basically the 80s bubble raised everyone’s expectations, then the 90s crash destroyed them.

The economy isn’t great today, but its been stable for long enough that the sort of dislocation of the 90s isn’t screwing with people like that anymore, so its not surprising that suicides are down. Hope it stays that way.

Two of my ex-wife's friends killed themselves in the mid-2000's leaving their young kids without a mother. It's all well and good to create consultation services and run campaigns against suicide, but they really need to address why so many people are killing themselves.

It is suspicious that the demographic breakdown only includes men and women. There is no mention of under twenties. Last year Japan still had the world's highest youth suicide rate. My guess is, due to the lack of information, this statistic has not changed.

Still too high.

sadly, the labor union and labor bureau are in part responsible of the horror.

no help can be received from public authorities.

Although I think people have the right to end their life if they want, reducing suicide is a cause I would definitely join.

Still #2 in the world?

Japan could reduce suicides to a few dozen a year, and commenters on this site will still be saying it's an awful place with the world's highest suicide rate. Some people cherish negativity.

Excellent news. Most suicides are middle aged men, so the upbeat economy, booming stockmarket, and record low unemployment rate surely is the primary reason for this welcome drop in the figure.

To be honest though, even 1 suicide is too many. Lets keep improving.

Yes sadly Child suicide is up:

https://www.nippon.com/en/japan-data/h00572/child-suicides-at-highest-rate-ever-in-japan.html

I wonder on the demographic, did the number for children, teens, decline or increase?

Countryside prefectures have higher rates because they also have higher rates of old people. The over 60’s are the most likely to top themselves.

There is only one response to this, good.

Having said that it can always improve.

Still #2 in the world?

The rate

Man,the headlines sugarcoat everything.

The rte is still deplorable.

"In Tokyo you will see train delays almost every day from a jinshin jiko which I presume is a suicide."

"almost everyday" --- fake

Good news for Japanese --- a few comments

Bad news for Japanese --- many comments

Great news. I remember when it was 30,000/yr.

I wonder why countryside prefectures like Yamanashi, Akita and Iwate have the highest rates? Depressed farmers?

May the downward trend in suicide rates continue.