I understand certain Scandinavian countries have high suicide rates too.
Is it biological, cultural, climatological or solar exposure? The report mentions Japanese suicides are related to school bullying and very high academic expectations for youngsters (certainly not an issue in the USA!). Japan also has a long history of ritual suicide which is a strong theme in their popular culture.

Coincidence? But what about other high-suicide rate nations? Are these numbers correllated with other social problems, such as sex crimes, alcoholism, divorce rate, etc. Maybe anthropologists and sociologists should be spending more time studying this. I'm sure there is a systemic cause which, if identified, might lead to saving lots of lives.