Japan’s elderly going missing raising concerns over the welfare system

In the western city of Kobe, 105 out of 847 centenarians are believed to be missing since the end of July.

"The city launched an investigation on the condition of the 105 people," a Kobe city official said, apart from another 22 who have not accessed nursing or medical insurance in recent years.

The missing elderly may actually be older by the present oldest woman in Japan, 113-year old Chiyono Hasegawa, a resident in the southern Saga prefecture.

They include one supposedly 125-year old woman.

After officials went to visit Sogen Kato on his 111th birthday, and found his mummified 30-year old corpse, fears have been raised that relatives of the elderly may be exploiting the current welfare system. Police are investigating Kato’s relatives for fraud, as the government kept paying him a pension well after he died.

Relatives claimed the man retreated into his room to become a “living Buddha.”

A total of 9.5 million yen (109,000 dollars) in widower's pension payments had been deposited since his wife died six years ago. Reports said that some of the money had recently been withdrawn.

In city of Osaka, 64 out of 857 centenarians are currently missing. Officials confirmed that a man who was registered as being 127 had been dead since 1966.

Another centenarian Fusa Furuya, who was listed as Tokyo’s eldest women at the age of 113, has been missing for around fifty years, according to her daughter who is now 79-years old.

A government report said in July that Japan's average life expectancy set a world-beating 86.44 years for women while men's average life expectancy came fifth globally with 79.59 years.

Japan has a tradition of giving birthday gifts to centenarians, but often the presents are handed to family members. Workers are unable to confirm whether the gift was actually received by the elderly.