Suicides in Japan increase for fifth straight month, police data shows

Dec 12, 2020 | News On Japan

Dec 12, 2020 (Japan Times) - The number of people who killed themselves in Japan in November increased 11.3% from a year earlier to 1,798, rising for the fifth straight month, data from the National Police Agency shows.

The number of suicides in the January to November period came to 19,101, up 426 from the same period a year before, according to the data released Thursday.

In November, 1,169 men and 629 women killed themselves.

By prefecture, the number of suicides recorded was highest in Tokyo, at 198, followed by Kanagawa, at 116, and Saitama, at 107.

Speaking at a news conference Thursday, Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato attributed the continued increase in suicides within the country to poverty, domestic violence and problems realted to child-rearing that have become more serious amid the COVID-19 crisis.

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