KOBE (Kyodo) The Kobe Municipal Government said Tuesday that 105 centenarians registered as living in the city are unaccounted for, including a woman listed as Japan's oldest woman at age 125.
Officials said they also found that 22 other people listed as being at least 100 years old haven't used nursing care insurance or the medical insurance system for those aged 75 and over.
Local governments across the country are confirming the circumstances of centenarians registered in their jurisdictions following the discovery late last month of a mummified body, apparently of a man who was registered as being 111 years old.
The findings in Kobe are in addition to the 88 centenarians in 20 prefectures, including Hyogo, unaccounted for.
The Kobe government was aware the centenarians were unaccounted for following home visits and didn't include them in its annual reports on the number of centenarians to the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry, the officials said.
The city plans to visit the registered addresses of the 105 unaccounted for centenarians and the 22 without records of using their insurance to determine their whereabouts. They said they plan to compile the results of their efforts by next week.
The person purported to be Japan's oldest woman is registered as living in Higashi-Nada Ward, but her listed address has been a park since 1981, according to the officials.