One municipality after another is unable to locate people aged 100 or over. It is likely that more than 200 such people are unaccounted for nationwide. Among them are 105 names of elderly people on the residents' basic register in Kobe and 63 in Osaka. The situation highlights municipalities' failure to accurately record people's moves and deaths as well as the weakening of communities' ability to help people in need.
If a person moves into or out of a municipality, that person, or his or her proxy, must file a form with the municipality so that the change will be recorded on the residents' basic register. If a person dies, his or her family member must file a form that records the death on the basic register.
As long as municipalities do not verify people's residency, nursery care insurance-related notifications and pensions may continue to be sent to people who no longer reside in the area or who may have passed away.