Citation

Tadashi Takeshima. J. Suicidol. (Taipei) 2022; 17(1): 30-33.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2022, Taiwanese Society of Suicidology, Publisher Airiti)

DOI

10.30126/JoS.202203_(1).0006

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Suicide prevention in Japan was greatly developed by the Basic Act on Suicide Prevention (2006) in response to the sharp increase of suicide deaths in 1998. The development to date can be divided into four phases. The first phase, from the 1970s to the 1990s, laid the foundation that continues today. The second phase is from the sharp increase of su icide in 1998 to the enactment of the Basic Act in 2006. In the second phase, society's interest in suicide and various stakeholder's activities were combined to formulate the Basic Act. The third phase is the development of suicide prevention after the enforcement of the Basic Act. In the third phase, the concerns about suicide deaths continuing to exceed 30,000, the enforcement of the Basic Act and the Emergency Fund for Strengthening Regional Suicide Prevention led to continued suicide prevention activities. The fourth phase is after the revision of the Basic Act. In the fourth phase, suicide prevention, which had been carried out by a variety of stakeholders, became a system centered by one corporation, and the rest became peripheral. Thus, the development of suicide prevention in Japan has its lights and shadows. One of the lights of suicide prevention in Japan is the establishment of several acts related to suicide risk in the second phase and the third phase. Suicide is likely to become a more pressing concern as the COVID-19 pandemic spreads and has longer-term effects on the general population and vulnerable groups. The activities under these acts, in conjunction with those under the Basic Act, may reduce the risk of increased suicide under the COVID-19 pandemic. We have organized a general incorporated association, the Center for Suicide Prevention and Survivor Support (CSPSS) to create an environment of transparent and fair suicide prevention policy development.

Language: en

Keywords

development; Japan; COVID-19; suicide prevention; history