Fifty-nine members of the Self-Defense Forces committed suicide in fiscal 2001, down 14 from the previous fiscal year, according to a Defense Agency report released this week.
Forty-four of the victims were members of the Ground Self-Defense Force, up one from the previous year, the report says.
The Maritime Self-Defense Force recorded eight suicides, while the Air Self-Defense Force had seven. Both figures were half those of the previous year.