Concern in Japan over high number of ‘lonely deaths’ while living with others

Officials in Japan have warned that dementia and the fraying of traditional community ties are contributing to a new social phenomenon – people who die at home but remain undiscovered for days, even though they were living with family.

The Mainichi Shimbun newspaper reported that 538 people died “lonely deaths” while living with others in Tokyo and Osaka between 2017 and last year, prompting experts to call for more support for struggling families.

Many of the cases appear to be linked to dementia: among the deaths reported in Osaka, about 30% involved people with relatives who had the condition.

According to the health ministry, about 4.6 million Japanese are living with dementia, with that figure expected to rise to 7.3 million – or one in five people aged 65 or over – by 2025.

Medical examiners in Osaka say the new classification – which differs from the large number of mainly older people who die in total isolation – applies to those who do not live alone but whose deaths do not come to light for four or more days.

After requesting that medical examiners in Osaka and the 23 wards of Tokyo look into cases of lonely deaths, the Mainichi identified 90 people in Osaka – 58 men and 32 women – who had died during the three-year-period. In Tokyo, 448 people – 286 men and 162 women – had died in similar circumstances.

Dementia was cited as the most common reason for the delay in reporting the deaths; in other instances, the deceased had deliberately cut themselves off from the other occupants of the household or were incapacitated.

While lonely deaths have been reported in other parts of Japan, the newspaper noted there was no official tally of the nationwide total.

A health ministry official told the newspaper that local authorities tended not to closely monitor vulnerable people living with relatives.

“Cases in which people become isolated and are not noticed by those around them are likely to increase” as Japan’s ageing society and smaller families continued to weaken traditional community ties, the official added.