Japan child suicides reach record high as experts warn of mounting pressures

The number of children who died by suicide in Japan rose to a record 532 in 2025, the second straight year in which the figure has reached a historic high, even as the country’s overall suicide toll fell to its lowest level in decades. Preliminary statistics released by the health ministry on Thursday showed the figure was up by three from the previous year and is the highest on record since comprehensive data were first made available in 1980. In a statement issued the same day, Hitoshi...