It is strange that the Japanese, with their placid outlook on life generally, seem to be more inclined to suicide than are perhaps any other people in the world. Yet that isthe conclusion from the truly tragic figures published recently by the "Machi." Reference is made to the "marked increase of late. in the number of suicides in Tapan" and the figures given are certainly astounding by comparison with ti from other large centres throughout the world. According to the Statistical Department of the Metropolitan Police there were last year, in Tokio and district allene, 247 suicides by strangulation, 269 by drowning, 77 by harakiri, 264 by poisoning, and 121 on the railway track, practically, two suicides daily. is of course futile to guess probable causes, though officially they are given as "disappointment in love," "divorce," "sickness," "family discord" and "difficulty of living." The ages of the victims ranged -between 20 and 30 years and there were almost as many women suicides as men.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.