20,919 people took their own lives in Japan during 2020, up 750 from 2019 and marking the first year over year increase in 11 years. Officials say it was mainly younger women who blamed loneliness in their suicide notes.
Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga expressed concerns that “more women are feeling lonely and prone to suicide” and named Tetsushi Sakamoto as the new Minister of Loneliness and directed him to hammer out “comprehensive” policies against loneliness. “Women are suffering from isolation more (than men are), and the number of suicides is on a rising trend. I hope you will identify problems and promote policy measures comprehensively.”
Japan is the world leader in suicides and the quarantine has enflamed it. In November more Japanese died from suicide then had died all year from COVID19!