One after another, cases of missing centenarians have been cropping up across the country. In the case in Tokyo's Adachi Ward that triggered the search for Japan's centenarians, mummified remains believed to be of the 111-year-old listed as the oldest man in Tokyo were found.
In many of the cases subsequently revealed, family members say they don't know where their aging relatives are or whether they are still alive. We find the situation appalling. According to official records, the number of centenarians stands at about 40,000. They are presented with commemorative gifts from the prime minister in the fiscal year they become 100. In reality, however, many municipalities did not deliver these gifts to all the eligible people in person.
Welfare Minister Akira Nagatsuma said he plans to begin a face-to-face survey of pension beneficiaries aged 110 or older. This group is thought to number fewer than 100 people. Pensions are paid from the taxes and premiums we pay. Unless death notifications are filed, payments usually do not stop. Even when the beneficiary is no longer present, families who manage an old person's account could intentionally not file death notices so they can keep spending the pension. Such cases cannot be ruled out.
The official survey should gradually broaden its net to younger age groups and the administration should promptly investigate cases of suspected illegal receipt of pension benefits, and study ways to deal with them. The survey may face difficulties if families refuse to cooperate. Concerns about infringing on people's privacy could become an issue. However, it is necessary to clarify the whereabouts of elderly people because of the need to provide support in natural disasters. The ministry should seize this opportunity to properly look into the situation.
The authorities should be able to single out anomalous cases based on health insurance records for elderly people who have not seen doctors for many years, while also checking information gathered from local welfare commissioners and other people who regularly work in local communities. The National Police Agency keeps records of some 17,000 corpses whose identities are unknown. If the survey is cross-referenced with this information, some of the dead may be identified. But doing surveys will not provide a solution to the deeper problems thrown up by the current situation.
The families who are supposed to be closest to these elderly people don't know where they are and, in many cases, have not even taken the trouble to ask the police to search for them. The situation shows the existence of lonely people who have no family to turn to and whose ties with those around them have been severed. The child abuse case in Osaka, where two small children were abandoned and died, has also demonstrated the weakness of family and community ties. But, even if the administration calls for the building of community networks, human relationships such as these cannot be built instantly.
The Tokiwadaira housing complex in Matsudo, Chiba Prefecture, is known for its efforts to eliminate solitary deaths. Takumi Nakazawa, 76, who heads the complex's neighborhood association, is encouraging individuals to ask themselves how they can do their bit to connect with older people. For example, he says it is important to greet neighbors, share what we have with them and make friends. Even if others do not reciprocate, it is important to repeat gestures of friendliness, he says.
We should consider how shocking it would be if someone close to us died a solitary death or died from abuse. What if we found out that an elderly person near us had gone missing? We should take this opportunity to think what we can do to avoid such a situation.
--The Asahi Shimbun, Aug. 5
