Japan: Suicides by Women Up for Second Year in a Row

The number of suicides committed by women in Japan increased in 2021 for the second consecutive year, Japan’s Mainichi Shimbun newspaper reported Tuesday, citing data from Japan’s Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry.

A total of 7,068 women in Japan took their own lives in 2021. The figure represented an increase of 42 compared to the 7,026 female suicides documented across Japan in 2020.

Male suicides in Japan, by contrast, decreased for the 12th consecutive year in 2021 to 13,939. The tally marked a drop of 116 from the 14,055 suicides recorded among Japanese men in 2020.

The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry used data from the National Police Agency to compile the country’s suicide statistics for 2021 and published the results on March 15.

“[W]ith fewer men killing themselves, the overall number of suicides in the country inched down by 74 to 21,007. The figure, nevertheless, remained 838 higher than the number in 2019 before the COVID-19 outbreak,” the Mainichi Shimbun observed on Tuesday.

Japan’s health ministry provided some apparent explanations for the female suicides recorded in 2021, though it did not specify if the alleged causes were provided by the deceased (i.e. via suicide note) or by police conjecture.

The most common reason the ministry gave for female suicide was “health issues.” This explanation accounted for “4,375 cases, down 144 from 2020, followed by family problems such as marital discord and pessimism about the family’s future, accounting for 1,357, up 65 [from 2020],” the Mainichi Shimbun relayed.

“Those citing problems related to economic and life issues increased 29 to 454, with 185 women killing themselves over difficulties making a living,” Japan’s health ministry further revealed Tuesday.

Reuters noted on March 15 Japan’s government has led “a concerted effort” to bring the numbers of national suicides down “by roughly 40 percent” over the past 15 years. The news agency quoted Japan’s health ministry as saying on Tuesday this figure “rose in 2020 due to stresses brought on by the coronavirus pandemic.”

“The effect of the coronavirus pandemic appears to manifest in various ways,” an unnamed Japanese health ministry official, who works on “measures to prevent suicides,” told the Mainichi Shimbun on March 15.

Japan has long struggled with a higher than average suicide rate due, in part, to demand for a high work ethic and a low tolerance for perceived societal “dishonor” or shame. The suicide rate of Japan was the second-highest among the members of the Group of Seven (G7) in 2019. The G7 is an inter-governmental forum consisting of seven of the world’s most advanced economies.