japan missing more than 230k old folks

[eatshitndie]

japan missing more than 230k listed centenarians

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100910/ap_on_re_as/as_japan_missing_centenarians

By MARI YAMAGUCHI, Associated Press Writer Mari Yamaguchi, Associated Press Writer – 1 hr 51 mins ago
TOKYO – More than 230,000 Japanese citizens listed in government records as at least 100 years old can't be found and may have died long ago, according to a government survey released Friday.

In August, the Justice Ministry ordered a review of records that found about 77,000 people who would be at least 120, and 884 people who would be 150 or older. The head count followed a flurry of reports about how elderly people are falling through the cracks in Japan as its population ages rapidly and family ties weaken.

In all, the survey of family registration records nationwide found that 234,354 centenarians were still listed as alive, but their whereabouts were unknown, the ministry said.

what a fucked up country...

 

[Cao Pi]

Japan mislays 230,000 centenarians


Japan mislays 230,000 centenarians

Japan has mislaid more than 230,000 of its centenarian, officials have said.

Published: 2:29PM BST 10 Sep 2010

Family registries were updated based on residents' notifications Photo: ALAMY

The country, which is famed for its longevity, launched a nationwide survey after the discovery that Japan's oldest man had been dead in his home for 30 years. Since then the search for centenarians has led to the discovery of a Tokyo woman believed to be 104, whose remains were found stuffed into her son's backpack, where they had been for more than a decade.

Earlier this month a 58-year-old woman living near Osaka admitted to keeping her father's corpse hidden at home for the past five years. The cases have also triggered soul-searching over elderly people living in isolation, and public outrage at relatives of those missing who have kept their deaths secret in order to keep receiving their pension payments.

The Justice Ministry said that a search of family registries, which are updated based on residents' notifications, found that 234,354 people recorded as at least 100 years old could not be located at their listed address. Many of those whose whereabouts were unknown may have died as long ago as the Second World War or may have emigrated without their status being reported to local authorities, the ministry said.

The list included 77,118 people who would be 120 years or older today, and 884 who would be at least 150 years old, the ministry said. The government has instructed regional legal offices to delete the names of people aged 120 or older if their whereabouts cannot be confirmed. The ministry said the impact on Japan's life expectancy figures would likely be minimal since these are calculated from separate data gathered in home visits by field workers during national census campaigns.

Japan's health ministry reported in July that the average life expectancy was a world-record 86.44 years for women and 79.59 years for men.