Though she was a relatively minor celebrity, the suicide in May of talento Uehara Miyu at the age of 24 seems to have sparked a dramatic increase in suicides among young women across the country. While the average number of deaths by suicide in Japan this year was a shocking 82 people per day up to May 12, the day of Uehara’s death, it peaked at 140 the following day when her death was reported. The next week or so saw the five highest daily death tolls recorded this year. In May alone, there were 3,329 suicides in Japan, an increase of almost 20% over the same period last year. The numbers included an uncharacteristically high proportion of women in their 20s and 30s.
The figures were recently released by a government task force set up to tackle the country’s high suicide rate. In a report, they didn’t mention Uehara by name but referred to the influence of the death of a female celebrity.