Oct 18 (NHK) - Japan's education ministry says 332 school children committed suicide in the year through March, the highest number since records began in 1988.
The ministry's survey covered elementary, junior high and high schools across Japan. The number of suicides rose by 82 from the previous year.
The deaths comprised 227 high school students,100 from junior high school and 5 elementary school children.
The total number of suicides in Japan in the year was about 20,000. That's 40 percent lower than the record and contrasts with the surge in child suicides.
Of the children that took their own lives, 41 were attributed to problems within their families, 30 to rebukes by parents, and 28 to worries about a future career. Nine cases were judged to have been caused by bullying.
According to the survey, the causes of 194 child suicides, or nearly 60 percent of the total, were unknown.
