The year 2007 saw 33,093 suicides in Japan, with the number of people taking their own lives topping 30,000 for the 10th straight year. This is a sad situation. Some suicides may have been caused by strictly personal problems, but the National Police Agency's statistics hint that social factors also should be taken into account.

The 33,093 suicides — an increase of 938 or 2.9 percent from the previous year — are second only to the 2003 record of 34,427. In 1998, the number of suicides jumped by about 8,000 from the previous year, topping 30,000. Difficulties due to the economic downturn, such as loss of employment through restructuring and bankruptcies in the credit crunch, are believed to have been among the reasons. Still, we can't overlook the fact that more than 30,000 people continue to kill themselves every year despite the overall economic recovery since then.

Health problems accounted for 14,684 suicides; financial and livelihood problems, 7,318; family problems, 3,751; and work-related problems, 2,207. Suicides specifically attributable to depression numbered 6,060 or 18 percent — the largest percentage — of the total. This is a sign of the strong pressures exerted on people in Japanese society.