Tokyo (dpa) - Japanese authorities recently conceded that they
have lost track of hundreds of centenarians in a country famously
proud of the care and respect it gives its oldest citizens.
Doubts first surfaced when officials found the mummified body of
Sogen Kato, registered as Tokyo's longest-living man, when they
visited his address to congratulate him on his 111th birthday.
Kato appeared to have been dead for more than three decades.
Kato's relatives at first told the police he had holed up in his
bedroom about 30 years ago as he wanted to be "a living Buddha." He
never left.
But now police are investigating family members for possible
pension fraud and negligence, news reports said.
The bizarre development prompted other local governments to check
on their senior citizens, bringing to light around 281 missing
centenarians out of around 41,000 recorded across the country.
Officials were unable to locate Fusa Furuya, a 113-year-old woman
listed as Tokyo's oldest resident. At Furuya's registered address,
they met her 79-year-old daughter, who said the last time they had
seen each other was around 1986. The daughter thought Furuya was
living with her brother in Chiba, near Tokyo.
In Kobe, western Japan, public officials discovered they had lost
track of 105 centenarians. The city has a total of 847 people aged
100 or over. The registered address of one 125-year-old woman has
been a park since 1981.
City official Hisashi Nobuhara said that since the revelation they
have started to meet Kobe's centenarians in person.
"We would also need to do so with those over 90 or 95 years old.
That is one of the things we will need to take it into account," he
said.
In Osaka, another western Japanese city, public officials were
unable to account for 63 of 857 registered centenarians.
A man recorded as being 127 years old, making him the world's
oldest person, was found to have died 44 years ago. Enquiries also
showed that a woman born 123 years ago had in fact been dead for the
last 30.
Osaka public officials had been long aware that the individuals
were missing, but they failed to share that information with the
other departments.
Public officials said the problem was due to red tape.
Health and Welfare Minister Akira Nagatsuma told officials to find
a better way to keep track of the elderly. Nagatsuma also proposed
that local officials meet residents over 110 or over in person.
Critics blamed the social impact of Japan's rapid
industrialization and the collapse of farming communities.
The isolation of the elderly was a consequence of the degradation
of family ties, said Kohei Yoneyama, director of the Nagareyama
Friendship Network, a citizens' group that helps older people help
themselves.
"We know that people have become less and less associated with one
another," Yoneyama said. "It is beyond my comprehension," he said,
adding "it is impossible to treat your own parents poorly."
The recent controversy does not bode well for Japan, one of the
world's fastest-ageing societies. Those aged 65 or over made up 22.8
per cent of the nation's total population of 127.4 million as of
July. The proportion was predicted to climb to 29.2 per cent in 2020
and 33.7 per cent in 2035.
Japan's oldest confirmed resident is Chiyono Hasegawa, a
113-year-old woman in Saga on the southern island of Kyushu.
Copyright 2010 dpa Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH