"It's so eerie." Japan's Oldest Man Isn't So Old

[Dakota Valkyrie]

http://spaceghetto.org/images/dd1tkt.jpg
He was thought to be the oldest man in Tokyo - but when officials went to congratulate Sogen Kato on his 111th birthday, they uncovered mummified skeletal remains lying in his bed.

Mr Kato may have been dead for 30 years according to Japanese authorities.

They grew suspicious when they went to honour Mr Kato at his address in Adachi ward, but his granddaughter told them he "doesn't want to see anybody".

Police are now investigating the family on possible fraud charges.http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-10809128

Police said the mummified body believed to be Kato was lying in his bed, wearing underwear and pajamas, covered with a blanket.

His granddaughter told investigators Kato holed up in his room about 30 years ago after declaring he wanted to be a living Buddha, police and Tokyo officials said. They believe Kato died soon after that.
[...]

"His family must have known he has been dead all these years and acted as if nothing happened," said Tokyo metropolitan welfare official Yutaka Muroi. "It's so eerie."http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5i9sXGP2PFS3kB4amFkZJSvILxaGAD9H8NHQ80

[Parrot Toes]

"His family must have known he has been dead all these years and acted as if nothing happened,"

You'd think, right?

This is just very strange.

Side note, 111 years old is kind of an odd number to pay him a visit to congratulate him. Maybe they should have done that at 100.....

[Hellsbells]

SOGEN Kato, Japan’s oldest living man, has been found in his bed. He is dead. Mr Kato has been there for some time. Dressed in his underwear and pyjamas, Kato’s body is mummified.

Mr Kato’s granddaughter tells investigators, who had barged into his room after attempts to reach and congratulate him on reaching 111 not out failed, that he had been in the room for 30 years. He wanted to be a living Buddha. He wanted to be left alone. http://i31.tinypic.com/2dl0qv5.jpg
He was thought to be the oldest man in Tokyo – but when officials went to congratulate Sogen Kato on his 111th birthday, they uncovered mummified skeletal remains lying in his bed.
It is thought Mr Kato died up to 30 years ago and that his family kept it secret to receive 9.5 million yen ($109,000) in widower’s pension since his wife died six years ago.

STOP PRESS: Old Mr Anorak’s grandma, the Dowager Anorak, will be posing for her still life class in the orangerie at noon today.
http://www.anorak.co.uk/254745/strange-but-true/sogen-kato-is-japans-oldest-fraudster-at-111.html

[mominAZ]

I just read this in the paper...FREAKY!! I can't believe that NOBODY realized this for thirty years, and that the smell didn't overcome the house. Of course, he was mummified, so not a whole lot of decomposition going on. Did the family use any sort of preservatives on his body or was the room lacking total airflow and moisture? That's the only thing I could think of that would mummify him and keep him from decomposing. Yuck!!

[sheevaa]

I've always considered that a weird thing to congratulate someone for. "Hey, look at you! You aren't dead yet! Damn, congrats on being alive!!"

[gee]

I wonder how long it took for his body not to smell? How does a family walk around as if.... PT I was wondering the same thing, what is with 111? Does this number mean something I am not aware of?

[Obsolete]

I'm guessing they only recently became interested in him because either someone else was older and passed away recently making him the oldest living (haha) man or the record for the oldest person was 110 and he superseded that when he turned 111.

[Parrot Toes]

It turns out that this centenarian isn't the ONLY dead/missing old person in Tokyo. There are at least 6 so far. Check it:

http://news.ca.msn.com/top-stories/msnbc-article.aspx?cp-documentid=25078677


A 113-year-old woman listed as Tokyo's oldest person is missing, officials said Tuesday, days after the city's oldest listed man was found dead and mummified.

Officials are also looking for a 106-year-old man who is missing in Nagoya, central Japan, Kyodo News agency reported. The Asahi newspaper said three more listed centenarians were unaccounted for.

Japan has 40,399 people aged 100 or older, including 4,800 in Tokyo, according to an annual health ministry report last year marking a Sept. 21 holiday honoring the elderly. Each centenarian receives a letter and a gift from a local government office — usually by mail.

This is so sad that these old people can just be missing like this and no one cares for years.

[Tits McGee]

This is so sad that these old people can just be missing like this and no one cares for years.
Especially in the Orient. They tend to revere their elderly, and celebrate them, as opposed to the USA where we shuffle them off to old folk homes and forget about them.