The Japanese are topping themselves at record levels

CARL FREIRE, TOKYO: Employers and local authorities need to work with the Japanese government to help tackle the country's alarmingly high suicide rate after 32,155 people killed themselves in 2006, the government said Friday.

While the figure was down by 397 people from the previous year, Japan's suicide rate remains the ninth highest among all countries, the Cabinet Office report said, citing World Health Organization data. Lithuania had the highest rate, followed by Belarus and Russia, while the US ranked number 43 in the world, according to the data.

Top government spokesman Nobutaka Machimura said economic bad times and difficulties in the workplace appeared to remain among the leading factors behind the high suicide rate.

“This is a problem that needs to be dealt with comprehensively by society,” Machimura told reporters at a regular news conference. “Suicide can be thought of as an illness of the soul, and we need to find ways to treat it.”