Japan facing with high suicide rates

TOKYO, May 21 (UPI) -- Japanese suicide prevention officials sought to counter a spate of suicides in which people were killing themselves with a mixture of detergents and chemicals.

Japanese health officials reported at least 145 suicides in 2008 using the mixture that produces hydrogen sulfide gas, ABC news reported.

Suicide Prevention Center Director Yuzou Kato said his officials set up a special hotline during a national celebration called "golden week" to address suicides using the gas mixture.

"We set up a special hot line during golden week this year," he said. "We wanted to put a stop to the increasing number of gas suicides, which have been spreading all over Japan."

Gas suicides are particularly dangerous because the fumes can harm others. Authorities evacuated 350 residents from a northern Japanese neighborhood in early May when a 24-year-old man allegedly tried to commit suicide with the gas.

Japanese retail officials asked stores to remove the ingredients from their shelves and national police urged Internet providers to remove listings linked to gas suicides.

Tokyo media magnate Ryuichi Okita launched a Web site in 2007 to give survival tips to people contemplating suicide.

"If our site can make them think a moment, it then could delay their action by one day," he said. You never know what difference that one day can make."