Almost 200 of Japan's centenarians missing
Nearly 200 of Japan’s centenarians are missing, according to the country’s latest audit of those aged over 100.
By Danielle Demetriou in Tokyo
Published: 3:36PM BST 11 Aug 2010
The number of centenarians has more than tripled over the past decade
An examination of Japan’s centenarian population was prompted by last month’s discovery of a mummified body believed to belong to a man registered as being 111-years-old. The vast majority lived in the Western city of Kobe, where 105 missing centenarians have been recorded, according to the authorities.
Among the missing are 21 people who would be older than the nation’s current official oldest person of 113 years of age — including a woman of 125 years whose registered address was turned into a park in 1981. A combination of healthy diets and improved medical care are among factors that have fuelled Japan’s status as home to one of the world’s fastest ageing societies with one in five over the age of 65.
The number of centenarians more than tripled to 40,399 — 87 per cent of whom are women – over the past decade, according to the latest figures released by the government last September. There are growing concerns that Japan’s current welfare system can be easily exploited by unscrupulous family members keen to continue receiving benefits after the centenarians die.
There were reports last week that the death of the man whose mummified remains trigged the investigation had been concealed by his family for around 30 years. The man received around £70,000 (9.5m yen) in pension payments when his wife did six years ago while £20,000 (2.7m yen) was withdrawn from his account last month, according to Kyodo News.
“It is impossible to keep a check on who is alive or dead, unless somebody registers a person’s death,” said Midori Kotani, a senior research director at Dai-Ichi Life Research Institute Inc. “The pension system is founded on the premise that people are good, not that they kill family members at home, and bury them.”
