TOKYO, May 17: Almost 20 per cent of Japanese adults have considered killing themselves, a survey has found with half the respondents saying movies and television are contributing to the high suicide rate.

The government said it had carried out its first survey on attitudes to suicide among 1,808 men and women aged 20 or older nationwide from February to March.

Among female respondents, 21.9 per cent said they had considered suicide, compared with 16.3 per cent of men.

Of the respondents, 58.2 per cent said movies and television encouraged people to kill themselves by glossing over suicide, while 42.6 per cent said movies and television dramas depicted too many suicides.

The majority, 76.1 per cent, said they favoured regulating websites that encouraged people to kill themselves by offering how-to information.

—APP/AFP