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2019 update: Japan Records Lowest Suicide Rate Since Statistics Were First Kept in 1978 https://www.nippon.com/en/japan-data/h00381/japan-records-lowest-suicide

by gkanai 7y ago

2019 update: Japan Records Lowest Suicide Rate Since Statistics Were First Kept in 1978 https://www.nippon.com/en/japan-data/h00381/japan-records-lowest-suicide-rate-since-statistics-were-first-kept-in-1978.html https://www.nippon.com/en/japan-data/h00381/japan-records-lo...

umvi 7y ago
It's still extremely high compared to other countries though. To put it in perspective, nearly as many people die by suicide alone in Japan (per capita) as suicide + guns combined in America (per capita).
- kevin_thibedeau 7y ago
  It's hard to get accurate stats on gun deaths in America because many reports lump in suicide by gun and accidental shootings to make the numbers look scarier. You might be double dipping.
  - CarlRJ 7y ago
    On the other hand, it has been suggested that quite a few deaths that are actually suicide using a gun get reported as "gun cleaning accident", presumably to lessen the impact on relatives (however slightly).
- DanBC 7y ago
  How does Japan count suicide? How does the US count suicide? Are they using comparable definitions for a death by suicide? I know that the US significantly under-counts deaths compared to the UK. It's very hard to compare suicide rates across countries. In the US it's somewhat hard to compare across different states which is why CDC and others are spending money on finding common definitions.
- oska 7y ago
  This is a big claim you're making here. I'm sceptical. Can you provide figures and sources to back it up?
  - umvi 7y ago
    Japan suicide rate 2018: 18.5 per capita[1] USA suicide rate 2018: 15.3 per capita[1] USA gun death rate 2018 (excluding suicides): 4.5 per capita[2] 15.3 + 4.5 = 19.8 Like I said, 18.5 is only slightly less than 19.8. Consider also that like GP said, Japan suicides are at an all time low right now. Japan's suicide rate just a few years ago (2014, I think?) was over 20 per capita if I recall correctly, so this claim would have been even more compelling in 2014 when Japan suicides were higher and USA suicide and gun violence rates were lower. Maybe it's more useful to examine decade averages? [1] http://worldpopulationreview.com/countries/suicide-rate-by-country/ http://worldpopulationreview.com/countries/suicide-rate-by-c... [2] https://www.gunviolencearchive.org/past-tolls https://www.gunviolencearchive.org/past-tolls Per capita rate calculated by dividing 14,777 deaths / 3272 (population of US in 2018 in 100k blocks)

by gkanai 7y ago

umvi 7y ago

It's still extremely high compared to other countries though. To put it in perspective, nearly as many people die by suicide alone in Japan (per capita) as suicide + guns combined in America (per capita).

kevin_thibedeau 7y ago
It's hard to get accurate stats on gun deaths in America because many reports lump in suicide by gun and accidental shootings to make the numbers look scarier. You might be double dipping.
- CarlRJ 7y ago
  On the other hand, it has been suggested that quite a few deaths that are actually suicide using a gun get reported as "gun cleaning accident", presumably to lessen the impact on relatives (however slightly).
DanBC 7y ago
How does Japan count suicide? How does the US count suicide? Are they using comparable definitions for a death by suicide? I know that the US significantly under-counts deaths compared to the UK. It's very hard to compare suicide rates across countries. In the US it's somewhat hard to compare across different states which is why CDC and others are spending money on finding common definitions.
oska 7y ago
This is a big claim you're making here. I'm sceptical. Can you provide figures and sources to back it up?
- umvi 7y ago
  Japan suicide rate 2018: 18.5 per capita[1] USA suicide rate 2018: 15.3 per capita[1] USA gun death rate 2018 (excluding suicides): 4.5 per capita[2] 15.3 + 4.5 = 19.8 Like I said, 18.5 is only slightly less than 19.8. Consider also that like GP said, Japan suicides are at an all time low right now. Japan's suicide rate just a few years ago (2014, I think?) was over 20 per capita if I recall correctly, so this claim would have been even more compelling in 2014 when Japan suicides were higher and USA suicide and gun violence rates were lower. Maybe it's more useful to examine decade averages? [1] http://worldpopulationreview.com/countries/suicide-rate-by-country/ http://worldpopulationreview.com/countries/suicide-rate-by-c... [2] https://www.gunviolencearchive.org/past-tolls https://www.gunviolencearchive.org/past-tolls Per capita rate calculated by dividing 14,777 deaths / 3272 (population of US in 2018 in 100k blocks)