The government and nonprofit organizations are stepping up efforts to prevent child suicides amid a rise in the number of such cases in Japan.
The number of suicides among elementary, junior high and senior high school students has been on the rise, reaching 514 in 2022, the highest level since comparable data became available in 1980, according to the welfare ministry.
In April, the government established a countermeasures office within the Children and Families Agency. In June, it adopted an emergency program to strengthen related measures, including checking children's mental and physical condition and concerns through tablet computers distributed to them at schools.