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Kodokushi: In aging Japan, thousands die alone and unnoticed every year.
Their bodies often go unnoticed for weeks.
Slate | June 26, 2015
...kodokushi...the “lonely death” ...
...With one of the fastest aging populations in the world and traditional family structures breaking down, Japan’s kodokushi phenomenon is becoming harder to ignore—not that the government and the Japanese people don’t do their best to sweep it under the carpet. Inaccurate statistics abound, with confusing definitions of what is and isn’t considered kodokushi being created in the process. According to the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, there were some 3,700 “unaccompanied deaths” in Japan in 2013.
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