CIRJE-J-207. Mori, Kohta, Joe Chen, Yun Jeong Choi, Yasayuki Sawada, Saki Sugano, "An Estimate of the Number of Family Members of Suicide Victims in Japan", December 2008.

This paper contributes to the literature of suicide studies by presenting procedures for estimating the number of family members who lose their loved ones to suicide. Using Japanese data, three main findings emerge: first, there are approximately five bereaved family members per suicide; second, in 2006, there were about 90,000 children who had lost a parent to suicide; and third, in 2006, there were about three million living family members who had lost a loved one to suicide.