Akita prefecture leads dramatic drop in Japan suicide rates
AKITA (Japan): Taeko Watanabe awoke one cold March night and found a trail of blood in the hallway, a bloody cleaver on her son Yuki’s bed and no trace of him in the house. Then police discovered a suicide note in his bedroom.
Yuki, who was 29 when he died in 2008, was one of many who committed suicide that year in the Akita prefecture, 450km north of Tokyo. For nearly two decades, Akita had the highest suicide rate in all of Japan.
But things have changed. Watanabe, who contemplated suicide herself, now leads a suicide survivors group, part of national efforts that have brought Japanese suicides down by nearly 40 per cent in 15 years.
The efforts took off nationally in 2007 with a comprehensive suicide prevention plan, as academics and government agencies identified at-risk groups.
Corporations, prompted by lawsuits from families of those who took their lives because of overwork, have made it easier to take leave; more offer psychological support, and a law caps overtime. The government mandates annual stress tests in firms with over 50 employees.
Suicide has a long history in Japan as a way to avoid shame or dishonour, and getting psychological help was stigmatised.
In 1999, Akita’s governor became the first in Japan to budget for suicide prevention.
Amid positive media coverage, citizen and volunteer suicide prevention groups sprung up. With a population of just 981,000, now it has one of the largest citizen help networks in Japan.
Akita began depression screening and public health workers checked in on at-risk people. There was also enthusiastic participation by volunteers such as Hisao Sato, who fought depression for years after a business failure in 2000. In 2002 he created “Kumonoito”, or Spiderweb, a network of lawyers and financial experts offering practical help.
Akita also has an ever-growing network of “gatekeepers” — people trained to identify those contemplating suicide and, if needed, put them in touch with help. It also has volunteer “listeners”.
Akita’s suicide rate has fallen from a high of 44.6 per 100,000 in 2003 to 20.7 last year, according to preliminary data — a drastic improvement, but still the sixthhighest nationally.