Japan: Nearly 4,000 people found more than month after dying alone, report says

www.bbc.com Japan: Nearly 4,000 people found more than month after dying alone, report says

Of those 37,227 Japanese people who died alone in their homes in the first half of the year, some 3,939 went unnoticed for over a month.

Almost 40,000 people died alone in their homes in Japan during the first half of 2024, a report by the country’s police shows.

Of that number, nearly 4,000 people were discovered more than a month after they died, and 130 bodies went unmissed for a year before they were found, according to the National Police Agency.

Japan currently has the world’s oldest population, according to the United Nations.

The agency hopes its report will shed light on the country's growing issue of vast numbers of its aging population who live, and die, alone.

Taken from the first half of 2024, the National Police Agency data shows that a total of 37,227 people living alone were found dead at home, with those aged 65 and over accounting for more than 70%.

While an estimated 40% of people who died alone at home were found within a day, the police report found that nearly 3,939 bodies were discovered more than a month after death, and 130 had lain unnoticed for at least a year before discovery.

17 comments

How's that benchmark against, say, the USA?

15
- Similar instances probably number in the low hundreds at maximum. Between bills, taxes, and nosey fucks it's impossible to just go missing" here, even if you don't have anyone that actually cares about you.
  
  4
If they died after being in pain for days after a fall, that's pretty concerning. If they just died of old age, then I don't see the issue, aside from the general health issues that thrive off dead meat hanging around.

5
- I think the point is about being forgotten.
  
  That no one cared enough about you to even discover that you had died.
  
  It implies that they were likely very alone for a long time before their death as well.
  
  8
- Humans aren't really meant to be alone. To work well, society needs community. Community includes the elderly and those who live alone. If they're being forgotten en masse then something in your society is broken.
  
  3
if not beeing found is a thought that bothers you, get a smartwatch with automatic emergency call function

4
- Just make sure your base heart rate is supported by the device. They all seem to think I'm dead already.
  
  9
  
  Boo!
  
  2
  
  which ones have you tried?
  
  1
If they died writhing in pain over days, thats an issue, if they died in their sleep wtfs the problem, that would be my preferred way to go.

There seems no break out of which is which,? ones a problem, ones not.

3
- You do realise what happens to a dead person's body after about a month?
  
  6
  
  I know what happens to dead body within a few days.
  
  Does something else happen after a month?
  
  0
- This also reveals how old the population is and how many older people ~~live~~ are alone. They dead people found didn't just live alone, but obviously no one bothered to check why they went silent.
  
  And yes, dying in my sleep would be the perfect way to go.
  
  5
Seems like people that live alone should have a house alarm/ambulance button

1
isn't japan like dense with ghosts and cryptids? this seems like a new way to make ghosts

1

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