Suicides in Japan

In 1997 in the U.S. there were some 30,535 suicides, or about 84 suicides per day. This gave the U.S. a suicide rate of about 12 per 100,000 people. Suicide in that year was the 8th leading cause of death in the U.S.

By comparison, in the same year, the Japanese suicide rate was 19.3 per 100,000. However, there was a major increase in suicides in the next year. In 1998 there were some 32,863 suicides in Japan, giving them about 90 per day.

Comparing the two countries at face value, it seems that they both have about the same problem with suicides: 84 per day in the U.S., 90 per day in Japan, basically a statistically insignificant difference.

The important part, though, is the suicide rate per 100,000. In 1998 it was about 12 per 100,000 in the U.S., but in Japan it soared to 26 per 100,000, or over double the U.S. rate. Thus, although the number of suicides per day was about the same in both countries, the rate of suicide in Japan was double that of the U.S.

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