From: Yahoo News

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070528/...minister_death

This qoute got my attention:

Japan has one of the highest suicide rates in the industrialized world. More than 32,000 people took their own lives in 2004. The country also has a deep-rooted tradition of ritual suicide, which was considered a way to restore one's honor or take responsibility for failings in feudal Japan.

I wonder if this is a fact or a matter of media hype.