JAPAN / Society

The thankless task of cleaning up the aftermaths of lonely deaths in Japan

Hirotsugu Masuda, leader of a special cleanup crew, prays in front of a stain on the floor of a Tokyo apartment, where the body of an 85-year-old man was left for over a month, on March 20. The crews are on hand to cleanse 'lonely death' apartments once their passing is spotted, including placing incense and flowers in the flats. | REUTERS

By Chris Meyers
Reuters

Apr 1, 2015

In March, the body of an elderly man was found on the floor of his apartment in downtown Tokyo. He had been dead for a month.

Neighbors hadn't noticed the octogenarian's absence. His bank made the rent payments on time, his family didn't visit, and the only reason for the body's discovery was the slight smell that troubled the tenant in the flat below.

In rapidly aging Japan, more people are dying alone and unnoticed in a country of 127 million, where 1 in 4 people is over 65. Looser family bonds play a role in their isolation.

The thankless task of cleaning up the aftermaths of lonely deaths in Japan

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