The National Police Agency announced that a total of 2,822 people commited suicide in Japan in the month of June. There is speculation as to the result of such a high number but many believe that it’s due to the recession.

The number of suicides in Japan for the first half of 2009 is up by 768 from last year’s statistics making it a total of 17,076 so far. The breakdown of numbers are like this: 2,660 in January, 2,482 in February, 3,084 in March, 3,048 in April, 2,980 in May, and 2,822 in June, with each figure showing an increase from last year. Males made up about 72 percent of the suicides with an increase of 712 from 2008 and totaling 12,222 for the first half of 2009.

Tokyo had the most suicides with 1,569 cases and Tottori had the least with 85 cases (which is still a high number in my opinion). For 11 consecutive years, Japan has exceeded 30,000 suicides per year. It seems this year will also follow that pattern. 2009 is estimated to reach a total of 34,152 suicides in Japan- slightly lower than its high in 2003 with 34,427 suicides. This may indicate the government’s inability to to provide necessary assistance to those in need stated Yasuyuki Shimizu, a representative from Lifelink (a nonprofit, suicide prevention organization).

[Source:Mainichi Daily News]