Suicides in 2006 top 30,000 for 9th straight year

More than 30,000 people killed themselves in Japan in 2006 for the ninth consecutive year with suicides among students marking a record high, the National Police Agency said Thursday. The total number of suicides came to 32,155, down 1.2% from a year earlier. Those believed to have died because of financial difficulties, however, declined by a sharp 10.1% to 6,969. The agency attributed the drop to the impact of the economic recovery.

Reflecting a spate of children's suicides reportedly triggered by bullying, suicides by elementary school pupils doubled to 14 in the reporting year and those by junior high school students rose 22.7% to 81, the agency said. Nearly half the overall suicides, 15,402, were attributable to health problems, topping the ranking by cause of death, followed by financial difficulties. Home and work problems came third and fourth at 2,960 and 1,919, respectively.