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Student suicides in Japan hit all-time high (www.japantimes.co.jp)

submitted 4 days ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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“The number of suicides among elementary, junior high and high school students has reached 529, the highest since the statistics began,” said Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi at a news conference Friday. “This is an extremely alarming situation, and we take it very seriously.”

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 days ago

According to Sayidina:

66.2% of these were high school students (349), 
30.9% middle school students (163), 
02.8% elementary school students (15).

Causes cited (multiple causes means these total to more than 100%):

349 Academic struggles, concerns about future paths.
284 Mental health issues, e.g. depression, 
148 family-related problems. e.g. conflicts with parents.

This is from a non-paywalled older article from 2025-01 which gives the total of school-aged children's suicides in Japan in 2024 at an all-time high of 527 (the 2 more in the newer article probably corrects cases incorrectly classified before).

"A notable increase was observed among female middle and high school students"

"In 2024, the number of suicides [for all ages] in Japan totaled 20,268, marking a decrease of 1,569 from the previous year and reaching the second-lowest level since records began in 1978."