Association of the ratio of job offers with a recent suicide trend in a rural unprosperous region in Japan.

摘要

THE NUMBER OF suicides in Japan has increased since 1998: yearly suicide rates in Shimane Prefecture were between the second highest and seventh highest in Japan from 1996 to 2003, and the rates have been approximately 30 (/100000 population) in every 6-year period since 1998, but there have been few reports regarding factors and background related to the increase in suicides in the prefecture. Shimane is one of the relatively unprosperous prefectures located in the western rural region of Honshu island facing the Sea of Japan on the north side. We have previously shown a significant association between suicide and unemployment rates among men in Mie Prefecture.