According to the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, the number of elementary, junior high, and high school students who took their own lives last year exceeded 1 for the first time since Showa 514, the highest number ever.
In response to this, the Children and Family Agency compiled a draft plan to strengthen countermeasures, such as establishing a response team of experts in each prefecture.

The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, and the National Police Agency are studying how to strengthen measures against child suicide, and presented a draft of specific measures at a meeting held at the Children's and Family Agency on June 2.

As a result, suicide crisis response teams for young people made up of experts from a wide range of occupations will be established in prefectures nationwide to provide support such as advising municipalities on how to deal with high-risk youth.

In addition, the government aims to implement a nationwide system that uses computers distributed to each student at school to identify signs of suicide and lead to support, and will conduct surveys and research to analyze statistics and materials compiled by the police and local governments.

At the meeting, Minister of State for Children's Policy Ogura stated, "The relevant ministries and agencies were able to share the seriousness of the situation of children and the urgency of countermeasures, and I would like to immediately implement the policy and work as one with the government."

Based on the draft that was presented, the government has decided to include countermeasures in the "Basic Policy" to be formulated by the end of this month.

Bereaved families also request measures against suicide among children

On May 5, bereaved families who had lost their children to suicide and had been calling for prevention of recurrence due to inappropriate guidance said that "about 29% of the national investigations of child suicides are said to be unknown every year, and the actual situation is not sufficiently grasped," and established a system for third-party investigations that collect information from multiple perspectives and investigate the causes, and maintain promptness, neutrality, objectivity, and transparency. We requested that this be linked to the prevention of recurrence.

Press conference with the bereaved families who requested it (May 5)

One of the requesters, Haruka-san (1), took his own life 29 years ago when his younger brother Yuta (10), who was in his first year of high school at the time, took his own life.

The court appealed to the court that the cause was inappropriate guidance by the adviser of the club activities the day before his death, and the judgment of the second trial that was finalized determined that it was difficult for the adviser to predict suicide and that he was not responsible, but found that it was inappropriate to severely reprimand him without sufficiently confirming the facts.

How could he save his brother, who was close to him?

For the past 10 years, Haruka has been calling for countermeasures, saying that she doesn't want the same thing to happen again.

However, the number of children who take their own lives is increasing year by year.

Haruka said, "I have seen the highest number of child suicides ever, but I have not been able to feel any change in society, adults, or the country, and I was frustrated that children have the desire to face what they suffered so much that they die. Ten years have passed since my brother died, and when I am 10 years older, I feel how short the 10 years he lived were. I don't want you to be so cornered that you have to die in such a short life," she said through tears.

On top of that, for countries that are responsible for child suicide countermeasures, he said, "I think that if we listen carefully to the words and facial expressions left behind by children who took their own lives, and the voices of friends, family, teachers, and each person around them, we will be able to see how we could have saved them. If you can see a way to reduce even one child suicide, I would like you to implement them one by one."

Support Group "Sharing Problem Awareness and Effective Measures"

Lifelink, an NPO that works on suicide prevention measures, uses SNS in addition to telephone to receive consultations from people who have difficulty living.

The use of SNS is to respond to the younger generation, and in fact, 3% of SNS consultations are from teenagers, and the content varies from friendships at school, club activities, career paths, family relationships, etc.

Yasuyuki Shimizu, the representative of the company, said, "There is a background that children tend to be limited to places where they can live, such as at home or school, and they are easily cornered in the first place. It is necessary to carefully elucidate the process by which each child is driven to suicide."

In addition, he points out that until now, there has been no department to centralize information on child suicide countermeasures, and there has been no clear strategy on how to respond due to insufficient elucidation of the actual situation.

In the future, the Children and Family Agency will play a central role, and related ministries and agencies such as the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, and the National Police Agency will work together to respond.

Mr. Shimizu said, "In order to take countermeasures, it is necessary to share awareness of the problem and share a vision of what we will do, so I think we are finally at the starting point. If we don't put into practice what we couldn't do before, the countermeasures will be just a piece of paper. The question is whether the government can take the leadership and promote effective measures by involving relevant ministries, governments, schools, and private organizations in charge of the field."

【Click here for consultation desk】

The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) introduces consultation services such as SNS and telephone on its website.

This is a consultation desk via SNS and chat.
▽ NPO "Suicide Prevention Support Center Lifelink" conducts "Difficult to Live" LINE@yorisoi-chat
▽ "Kokoro no Hottochat" held by NPO "Tokyo Mental Health Square" LINE@kokorohotchat
▽ NPO "Your Ibasho" Chat https://talkme.jp
▽ NPO "BOND Project" LINE@bondproject ▽ "Childline" https://childline.or.jp/index.html
conducted by NPO
"Childline Support
This is the main telephone consultation desk.
▽ "#いのちSOS" conducted by NPO "Suicide Prevention Support Center Lifelink" 0120-061-338 ▽ "Yorisoi Hotline" conducted by the "Social Inclusion Support Center" 0120-279-338
* From Iwate, Miyagi, Fukushima 0120-279-226
▽ General Incorporated Association " "Life Telephone" 0120-783-556 conducted by the Japan Telephone Federation for Life" ▽ "Unified Dial for Mental Health Consultation" 0570-064-556


that is connected to telephone consultations conducted by prefectural governments In addition, the following consultation desks for children are also introduced.
▽ "Childline" 0120-99-7777 conducted by the NPO "Childline Support Center" ▽ "24-hour children's SOS dial" conducted by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology 0120-0-78310 ▽ "Children's Human Rights 110" conducted by the Ministry of Justice 0120-007-110



The URL that introduces these is "https://www.mhlw.go.jp/mamorouyokokoro/" and you can also search for "Mamoro yokokoro".