The mummified corpse apparently of a man born in 1899 who may have died more than 30 years ago was found in his home in Adachi Ward, Tokyo, after relatives barred repeated attempts to determine if he was still alive, investigative sources said Thursday.
Sogen Kato, who would have been 111 were he alive, remained cloistered in his room after declaring some 30 years ago that he wanted to be "a living Buddha," the sources quoted relatives as saying.
Police are questioning his family about the circumstances of his death, while continuing to investigate whether they attempted to fraudulently receive roughly ¥9.5 million paid to Kato as a survivor pension after his wife, a former teacher, died six years ago at age 101, the sources said. They added that ¥2.7 million was withdrawn from Kato's bank account earlier this month.