What’s happening to Japan? “Kodokushi” (lonely deaths) are rapidly increasing among young people.

Thursday 12/09/2024 | 14:36 PM

Kodokushi has been a concern in Japan for over a decade. The deaths, which occur unnoticed and are discovered more than a few days after death, were mainly elderly people living alone. It is becoming more common among young people, bringing to light a deep darkness in Japan.

Kodokushi among older people created by concentrated growth in large cities
There are several major cities in Japan, but they have developed in a way that has made everything concentrated in Tokyo. It is the political and economic hub of Japan. As a result, more and more people from the countryside come to Tokyo to find work and live with their families.

Because Japanese people like to have personal space, there are not many room-sharing arrangements. They tend to live alone in small apartments, so there are more cases of kodokushi, with no one noticing that the person has died. In the case of people who are retired from work, it is difficult for people around them to notice their death.

A further cause of increasing kodokushi is the problem of the nuclear family. A nuclear family is one in which only a couple and their children live together. Children also leave home and become independent when they reach adulthood, leaving only the aging couple. When one of them dies, the elderly person is left alone, increasing the risk of a lonely death.

In metropolitan areas, there are many instances where neighbors do not interact with each other, so it goes unnoticed when there is a death. It is not until the body decomposes and there is a strange odor that neighbors are alerted.

Kodokushi spreading among young people
A total of 742 young people who were in their teens, 20’s, or 30’s died alone in the central Tokyo area in the three years from 2019. Although young people have a lower risk of death than older people, it is naturally not zero, and since many live alone, the probability of dying alone increases. Of these people, it should be noted that 114 were found more than four days after death.

For example, if you work in a company, you would have been left in a state of unauthorized absence for at least four days, or more than a week if you consider that it takes several days from the time you become unwell to the time of your death.

What is happening in Japan today?

Cause of death: Suicide?
The causes of death for the 742 people announced in this article have not been made public, but the majority are thought to be suicides. Japan has lost its vitality due to a recession that has lasted for more than 30 years, and an increasing number of young people are losing hope for life.

I usually live in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, but when I temporarily return to Japan, I see young people boarding the train with listless faces, and I too feel my energy sucked away. Most people are doing their best in this situation, but some are losing the will to live, cutting off contact and relationships with society, and many are committing suicide.

It is not surprising that some of these people die alone, without their deaths even being noticed by those around them.

The Japanese way that teaches people not to cause trouble to others
We Japanese have been brought up with the teaching that we should not cause trouble to those around us. In a positive sense, this makes us people who observe manners and rules.

However, on the other hand, it also has the negative side of making it very difficult for us to talk to others even when we are in mental distress.

Unfortunately, we have not yet heard much positive news that the Japanese economy is recovering. Does Japan have a bright future 30 years from now?

What do you think?

ABE KENGO

https://www.sankei.com/article/20240721-MZBGQN5G3JMTDJ3BVTQCZ5NHAY/