Each year, tens of thousands of people in Japan suffer so-called lonely deaths, where their bodies aren't found for weeks, months, and sometimes years. Many are elderly, cut off from their community without family or friends. And as Japan's population continues to age, some in the community are doing their bit to support the most vulnerable.
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00:00This is grim work, but someone's got to do it.
00:10Takuya Shiota has come to clean up a lifetime of possessions after the elderly resident
00:15in this apartment died.
00:17With no friends or family, the occupant was undiscovered for three weeks until her rent
00:23went unpaid.
00:26The deceased passed away here and the smell was quite strong because of the fluids that
00:30came out of her body.
00:32So we cut out all hair and disinfected it.
00:36Japan's suffering from a lonely deaths crisis.
00:38For the first time, the government has crunched the numbers.
00:42It's now expected some 68,000 people will die alone this year and left undiscovered
00:48for a prolonged period.
00:51It's increasing considerably.
00:53We do roughly more than 100 cases a year.
00:56Japan is getting older.
00:58Its population is shrinking.
01:00Once bustling suburbs and villages are emptying and elderly people are left vulnerable.
01:07It was 20 years ago when Dr Osamu Yamanaka opened a clinic in one of Yokohama's poorest
01:13suburbs.
01:15Back then, four people a day were dying at home alone.
01:18Many undiscovered for long periods.
01:21Some were skeletal if no one found them.
01:23I was young and I thought it was unforgivable.
01:26Dr Yamanaka pioneered home care.
01:30There aren't many people who are willing to deal with people from the lowest strata
01:33of society, but he is willing to come to me.
01:37I appreciate it.
01:39If I wasn't doing it, there would be an awful lot of lonely deaths.
01:44Services like this are now much more common across Japan, but there will always be limitations.
01:49Dr Yamanaka says communities need to fill the gap.
01:54If they do not socialise with their neighbours, they will end up with a solitary death.
01:58It's very difficult to prevent it.
02:07It's a challenge Yoshiko Sato has accepted.
02:10At her massive apartment complex on Tokyo's outskirts, there are almost 400 elderly residents
02:16living alone.
02:17Today, she's visiting one of them.
02:19Yoshiko Sato set up a zero lonely deaths program two decades ago.
02:26Every year, four or five people died alone.
02:29It was like that constantly.
02:31It established a network of volunteers that check up on local residents, leading to a
02:36remarkable improvement in the quality of life.
02:40She usually visits me about once a week.
02:43I look forward to cooking with the vegetables she brings me.
02:46It's what makes my life worth living.
02:49Yoshiko's mission of zero lonely deaths was soon achieved.
02:53After five years, the number of lonely deaths became zero for the first time.
02:59But she worries about the future.
03:04A future where people are becoming more withdrawn from their community.
03:09A community must be built by everyone, but that's not possible in Japan at the moment.
03:14People are becoming selfish.
03:16If everyone was more considerate of the people around them or looked after them, there would
03:20definitely be no more lonely deaths.
03:23This is a crisis that's only going to get worse.
03:27Japan has the world's oldest society with one in ten people aged over 80.
03:32And as the country continues to grow old, there's increasing pressure on the government
03:36to do more to care for the vulnerable in life and in death.
03:42For those on the front line, government support for community groups is a priority.
03:48There is data that loneliness is the biggest factor in shortening life expectancy.
03:52In Japan, there's a lack of community ties.
03:55I feel it's very common.
03:58A need to keep connections until the inevitable end.