Japan shocked to learn ultra-elderly are missing
Source: Agencies |
August 24, 2010, Tuesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
A JAPANESE media frenzy over missing centenarians has cast a spotlight on the isolation and loneliness potentially faced by millions of elderly as the government struggles to cope with a rapidly graying population.
The panic - and guilt - was sparked by the discovery that a man believed Tokyo's oldest male at 111 had actually been dead for over 30 years with his remains found mummified at his home. His family is under investigation for fraud.
Since then authorities have been unable to locate over 250 elderly people and reports have emerged of many old people dying alone, or of relatives running scams to get their pensions amid broken communities and overworked public volunteers.
"Don't worry, my mum-in-law is not a mummy," one relative, Mio Akiyama, jokingly reassured workers of Suginami ward, one of 23 special wards or municipalities of Tokyo, as they were checking on the area's elderly last week.
With investigations underway, officials have found many older people have moved away from their family homes, never to be heard from again, showing how the vulnerable with few friends can easily fall through the cracks of a leaky support network.
Fusa Furuya of Tokyo's Suginami district, thought to be Tokyo's oldest woman at age 113, was found not be living at the address where she was registered. She has yet to be found and none of her family know her whereabouts.
These reports have shocked Japan, which is home to an estimated 41,000 centenarians and whose women have held the record for the world's longest life expectancy for 25 years.
"I can't picture a situation where I wouldn't know her whereabouts. Perhaps the breakdown of family ties is the cause of the recent happenings," said Akiyama, holding the hand of her frail, 107-year-old, bed-ridden mother-in-law.
While Akiyama may show the respect for the elderly that many see as a traditional Japanese value, families are changing and the elderly are no longer automatically cared for by their family.
One-third of Japan's growing ranks of elderly are expected to be living alone by 2020 due to a fast-aging population and more divorces.
The panic - and guilt - was sparked by the discovery that a man believed Tokyo's oldest male at 111 had actually been dead for over 30 years with his remains found mummified at his home. His family is under investigation for fraud.
Since then authorities have been unable to locate over 250 elderly people and reports have emerged of many old people dying alone, or of relatives running scams to get their pensions amid broken communities and overworked public volunteers.
"Don't worry, my mum-in-law is not a mummy," one relative, Mio Akiyama, jokingly reassured workers of Suginami ward, one of 23 special wards or municipalities of Tokyo, as they were checking on the area's elderly last week.
With investigations underway, officials have found many older people have moved away from their family homes, never to be heard from again, showing how the vulnerable with few friends can easily fall through the cracks of a leaky support network.
Fusa Furuya of Tokyo's Suginami district, thought to be Tokyo's oldest woman at age 113, was found not be living at the address where she was registered. She has yet to be found and none of her family know her whereabouts.
These reports have shocked Japan, which is home to an estimated 41,000 centenarians and whose women have held the record for the world's longest life expectancy for 25 years.
"I can't picture a situation where I wouldn't know her whereabouts. Perhaps the breakdown of family ties is the cause of the recent happenings," said Akiyama, holding the hand of her frail, 107-year-old, bed-ridden mother-in-law.
While Akiyama may show the respect for the elderly that many see as a traditional Japanese value, families are changing and the elderly are no longer automatically cared for by their family.
One-third of Japan's growing ranks of elderly are expected to be living alone by 2020 due to a fast-aging population and more divorces.
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