Alarmed by rising suicides of women, Komeito opens new round of hearings

November 18 , 2020

On November 13, two Komeito groups—one dealing with suicide prevention and the other promoting quality of life initiatives for women—held a joint session to meet with Jun Tachibana, who heads “bond Project,” a nonprofit support group to help suicidal women in need of counseling services.

Ms. Tachibana told the Komeito legislators that it was vital to guide potential suicide victims who voice their desperation on the Net to viable support groups. She added that there were posters who actually goaded people to committing suicide, citing the need for a platform in which such posters are warned off and able to provide care for women leading severely stressful lives.

Officials from the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare also attended the session, reporting on the latest suicide statistics. As of October 2020, 2,153 people committed suicide in Japan, a 40% leap over the same period last year, with the increase of women suicides particularly alarming, they explained.

For many years now, Komeito has been lobbying the government to adopt a broader and more responsive framework to prevent suicides.