Perilous
Times
Japan suicides still above 30,000 a year
By null | AFP News
Suicides in Japan hit a nine-year low in 2010 but still topped
30,000 for a 13th year in a row, police data showed on Thursday.
Japan, with a population of 128 million, has long had one of the
world's highest suicide rates, behind only a group of former
Soviet bloc countries, says the World Health Organization.
Last year the grim toll dropped 3.5 percent to 31,690 -- or 87
deaths a day -- the lowest level since 2001, said the National
Police Agency.
Half of all suicides were due to health reasons, according to
farewell letters and other evidence, and about 4,500 related
mainly to family troubles, according to the figures.
Suicides related to economic problems dropped 11.2 percent to
about 7,400 -- partly due to tighter rules against loan sharks,
police and experts said.
Annual suicides topped 30,000 in Japan for the first time in 1998,
at time of many corporate bankruptcies and rising unemployment.
Prime Minister Naoto Kan has repeatedly voiced concern over
Japan's high suicide rate and Tuesday convened a meeting of a task
force that aims to find ways to reduce the toll, Kyodo News
reported.
"The annual number of people who committed suicide exceeded 30,000
for the 13th straight year and I strongly want this level to be
reduced," Kan said.