Japan child suicides hit high in 2024
A record 529 schoolchildren in Japan took their own lives in 2024 and suicides among young people remained high above 3,000 cases for the fifth consecutive year, despite an overall improvement in the country’s suicide number, according to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.
The 2025 edition of the White Paper on Suicide Countermeasures, approved by the Cabinet on Friday, found that many of the university students who died by suicide were 21 years old, possibly indicating concerns about finding employment or pursuing higher education.
This trend was seen in most years since 2015 among male students and since 2021 among female students, according to the report.
Career concerns
Its analysis of suicide motives from 2022 to 2024 showed that all had concerns about their career paths. Males were also more likely to have experienced academic failure, while females were more often affected by depression or other mental illnesses.
Furthermore, the number of suicides among young women has been on the rise, with 40 percent of those in their 20s who died by suicide having previously attempted it.
In response to the findings, the ministry said more attentive and thorough support is needed.
The total number of suicides in 2024 was 20,320, down 1,517 from the previous year and second least since data collection began in 1978, the paper said. The number of male suicides decreased for the first time in three years, while female suicides declined for the second consecutive year.
Meanwhile, suicides by elementary school pupils and high school students totaled 529, the highest since such data became available in 1980, according to the white paper.
Suicide remains high among young people aged 15 to 29, with more than 3,000 deaths occurring annually since 2020. Among 15- to 19-year-olds, the number of male suicides was more than double that of females in 2015, but the number of female suicides surpassed that of males in 2024.
Mental disorders
Meanwhile, the number of mental disorder cases recognized as work-related in Japan rose by 172 in fiscal 2024 to 1,055, marking a record high for the sixth straight year, the government said on Wednesday, with harassment by superiors cited as the leading cause.
Of the total, 88 cases involved suicides or suicide attempts in the fiscal year that ended in March, up nine from the previous year, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare said.
Physical and verbal harassment by superiors accounted for 224 cases of mental disorders, followed by significant changes in workload or job duties at 119.
Abuse by customers, including physical and verbal violence against workers, was the third most common cause of mental disorders, with 108 cases reported and 78 involving women.
Harassment
Harassment by customers was added to the list of incidents eligible for workers’ compensation due to mental stress starting in fiscal 2023.
“There are a certain number of workers who are under strong stress due to human relationships within their workplaces and to changes in the environment,” a ministry official said.
By occupation, the highest number of workers’ compensation cases for mental health issues was among those in social security and welfare, totaling 270 cases.
By age, 283 cases involved people in their 40s, 245 in their 30s and 243 in their 20s.
