Japan Press Weekly

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2012 June 13 - 19 [WELFARE]

Change society to reduce high rate of suicide

Akahata editorial (excerpts)

Last year, 30,651 Japanese committed suicide, and the suicide rate increased among youth. This tragic fact was revealed by the Cabinet Office’s 2012 counter-suicide white paper. The present state of society, where more than 80 people a day are taking their own lives, must be changed.

Japan’s suicide rate (the number of suicide victims per 100,000 citizens) is 24.4. Ranked eighth in the world, the rate is twice that of the U.S. and three times that of the U.K.

The suicide rate in Japan is increasing among the youth. Among 7 developed nations, Japan is the only nation where suicide is the leading cause of death for young people aged between 15 and 34 years.

The number of students who committed suicide in 2011 increased by more than 10% from the previous year and exceeded 1,000 for the first time since statistics were first compiled in 1978. The failure to find a job was raised as the reason for suicide by 150 suicide victims who were 29 years old and younger, which is 2.5 times more than 5 years ago.

Measures must be urgently taken to prevent major corporations from decreasing job opportunities and from imposing harsh job-hunting competition on young people.

The government’s white paper points out a close connection between young people’s unemployment rate and their suicide rate. It also warns that the deterioration of working conditions for young employees has helped raise the suicide rate of citizens in their twenties. The suicide rate for men in their 50s, which remains high, changes in accordance with the number of business bankruptcy.

The expansion of unstable jobs must be stopped with drastic measures taken to change the foundation of the economy and society, including eradication of long working hours and excessive workloads and increased exploitation of subcontractors by large corporations.

The number of suicide victims exceeded 30,000 for the first time in 1998 when economic conditions rapidly deteriorated, following the increase in the consumption tax rate to 5% in the previous year. The Noda Cabinet’s unified reform plan on taxation and social welfare services must be cancelled.