09.14.10
Japan Missing 230,000+ Centenarians
Check out this article talking about Japan’s missing centenarians.
In August, the Justice Ministry ordered a review of records that found about 77,000 people who would be at least 120, and 884 people who would be 150 or older. The head count followed a flurry of reports about how elderly people are falling through the cracks in Japan as its population ages rapidly and family ties weaken.
In all, the survey of family registration records nationwide found that 234,354 centenarians were still listed as alive, but their whereabouts were unknown, the ministry said.
Because listings of people over 120 are almost certainly the result of lax bookkeeping, the ministry instructed local offices to attach a note to those records saying the people were unaccounted for, a ministry official said.
A ministry official said many of the missing people had probably died, lost touch with relatives or moved overseas. The official spoke on condition of anonymity, citing ministry policy.