When it comes to loneliness and isolation in Japan, the problem of people dying alone has generally been associated with older people, but middle-age working adults who live alone are increasingly worried they could suffer the same fate. Now, technology may be providing a lifeline.
Registration among working people to emergency smartphone app services has been spreading as the younger generation finds themselves more cut off from society with insufficient government support. The growing feeling of isolation has only been exacerbated under the coronavirus pandemic.
Yoshio Konno, the younger brother of Isao Konno, 62, died a lonely death from hypothermia at the age of 51 in February 2015 while inside his unheated apartment, where he had lived alone. His body lay for a week before being found.