It all began last week when a mummified corpse was found at a house in Adachi Ward, Tokyo. If the man, Sogen Kato, were still alive he would have been 111 years old.
His family reportedly said he locked himself in a room about 30 years ago and never came out. An investigation was launched to determine if his relatives were receiving his pension illegally.
Then came the case of Fusa Furuya in Suginami Ward, who at 113 was registered as the oldest woman in the Tokyo metropolitan area but turned out to be missing. Her daughter reportedly said she has no idea where her mother might be, although registering her as sharing the same address in 1986.