In the first half of 2009 some 17,076 Japanese killed themselves, almost a 5% increase on the same period a year prior.
Should matters worsen any further, the all time record number of 34,427 deaths by suicide recorded in 2003 will be broken.
Unsurprisingly, the areas with most suicides were the major population centres, though some less populous areas did see notable increases; Okinawa saw a 51% jump in suicides.
The huge proportional increases are less impressive when it is realised that this only means an increase of 77 people in the case of Okinawa, whereas in central Tokyo alone 1,569 deaths were recorded in total.
An anti-suicide group concedes that whilst people kill themselves for many reasons, economic factors are clearly prominent, with a spike in self inflicted deaths in March and April when companies file their accounts.
Via Sankei.
Japan still has a long way to go if it is to reclaim the dubious honour of being the most suicidal nation on earth, at least in per capita terms; various nations of Eastern Europe record far higher levels, with Lithuania having a level approximately twice that of Japan.
because we are in despair!
In Japan failure is not an option
in Lithuania living is not an option.
Hi. I guess this is my first post. Hello everyone 🙂 It attracted my attention, because my country was mentioned here. Yes Its Lithuania. And yes. Life here sux so much, that even myself was thinking of jumping of a bridge a couple of times . But the statistics is a little bit wrong. Since our population is barely 3 300 000 . Million. So if during a year 30 people commit suicide it is 0.0001% of our entire population. So thats why the number is so high. Thats why Lithuania is one of first with suicide rates. If in Tokyo alone 1,569 deaths were recorded. Imagen that number being 0.5 % of our entire population. All in all suicide cases are relatively rare. And if it happens. It is almost always on the national NEWS.
this sooooo reminds me of the gerbils from joecartoon.com’s ‘live and let dive’ except more disturbing… and not cartooned… man this topic is getting depressing when you think about. 🙁
The monetary system is the cause of most of our problems yet many people are too conditioned to comprehend a world without money and thus are unable to solve any major problems without adding money into the equation so are problems remain. The monetary system is outdated and has outgrown its usefulness. It now only serves as a means of control for those in power and a barrier which halts our advancement.
This is the best solution to our problems:
http://www2.thevenusproject.com/a-new-social-design/resource-based-economy