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Hikikomori, people who spend nearly their entire lives in their rooms, is a phenomenon especially prevalent in Japan. While it’s difficult to get exact numbers, estimates say that there are at least over one million hikikomori in Japan, bringing with them a wealth of difficulties.
Being taken care of by their parents all day every day brings with it plenty of problems by itself, but there’s also several other complications… such as what they do when their parents pass away. This is a big issue, so much so that a few years ago the Nagoya government released a guide for hikikomori on what to do when their parents die.
Unfortunately, that information doesn’t always reach the intended audience.
Recently, the dead body of Satoe Tanaka, an 83-year-old woman, was found in the house where she and her son Hisataka lived just the two of them in Togane City, Chiba Prefecture. According to police, Hisataka was living as a hikikomori in the house, and his mother’s corpse had been left inside after she originally passed away over a year ago last July.
Police were alerted to the potential problem after city officials had been trying to contact Satoe for almost two years with no response. Details of why they were contacting her have not been released, nor why she didn’t reply for presumably a year before her death, but it could’ve been over simple managerial things such as taxes, insurance, or bills that eventually piled up.
As for the reason why Hisataka left her dead body inside the house for over a year, he had this to say: “I found her dead, and I didn’t know what to do to take care of it, so I left her there.”
Here’s how Japanese netizens reacted online to the disturbing story:
“Yikes. This is like right out of a horror movie.”
“Did he just ignore her body? Did he stare at it? I’m not sure which is worse….”
“And what about the smell? What did he do about that?”
“I feel like we might be hearing more stories like this from now on.”
“All he had to do was call an ambulance. Even a first grader can do that.”
“I mean, he obviously didn’t do anything because he wanted to keep collecting her pension money.”
Like most hikikomori, Hisataka was unemployed, living off his parent’s pension money. If that were to go away, he would’ve had no other way to continue his lifestyle, so in his twisted mind it wasn’t even a decision.
Source: Nippon Televeision network Corporation via My Game News Flash
Read more stories from SoraNews24.
-- 49-year-old Japanese shut-in spends weeks living with corpse of mother who died at home
-- Nagoya NPO releases survival guide for hikikomori for when their parents are gone
-- Dead body of college girl found inside refrigerator at Japanese sweet store in Tokyo
- External Link
- https://soranews24.com/2019/08/31/46-year-old-hikikomori-arrested-for-leaving-mothers-dead-body-inside-house-for-over-a-year/
18 Comments
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doushitedaro12
I can see the typical JT comments coming: "He did it to receive her pension".
Disillusioned
The opening statement should be "specifically prevalent in Japan" Where I come from it is a mental illness called, agoraphobia. Only in Japan do they accept it as just another cultural trait. How many of these mentally disturbed 'hikikomori' have been involved in serious and morbid crimes in recent years? Random attacks on people, kidnapping children, murdering parents, living with dead bodies, the list goes on. It is a serious mental illness that is just accepted in Japan.
Yubaru
More like the people at the municipal office didn't get off their arses and actually go out to her house and physically check on her.
At least for one year she didnt reply because she was dead!
Realization
“city officials had been trying to contact Satoe for almost two years with no response. “
What a performance by city officials!!!
rkom76
Actually, even the writer says that.
gaijintraveller
Was there more than a year's supply of food in the house? What did he eat for a year? Did he have to leave his room and go out to buy food?
How did he get money? I don't think pensions are delivered to the house in cash. To withdraw money from an ATM requires the hikikomori to leave his house.
juminRhee
He wouldn't get the pension anymore, but does life (death) insurance exist?
Pukey2
I shudder to think....
thepersoniamnow
Hikikomori is not Agoraphobia.
It’s actually completely different, and you shouldn’t confuse the two as it probably does sufferers of Agoraphobia a grave injustice.
Being fearful of elevators and feeling trapped isn’t the same at all as a 45 year old living with his mom.
Bugle Boy of Company B
Who gives a rip why he did it? It's disgusting.
Lorem ipsum
same cr#p you hear from all the other recluses. It sounds just as rehearsed as people saying they were drunk and don't remember anything. Let the loser suffer in prison.
theFu
If there is any question about the pension, demand the person in question show up to the govt office to get the payment at least every 6 months or pay for a govt visit to the home.
What sort of parent allows this to happen? Part of raising kids is making them independent. It is necessary. Kick your kids out. Ask them to stop by once a week or once a month, if you like.
garypen
It most certainly is.
"AGORAPHOBIA: Extreme or irrational fear of entering open or crowded places, of leaving one's own home, or of being in places from which escape is difficult." - Oxford Dictionary
You are describing claustrophobia, not agoraphobia.
Daniel Naumoff
Exactly! Pension!! Has nothing to do with rampant anomie sweeping through the society like a tsunami. Not a fraction of correlation.
Sha
If the city officials were doing their job even in a half ass manner, the person in charged of these hikkikomori would have noticed, the tax office would have noticed, the insurance office would have noticed, the welfare office would have noticed. And if the society wasn't so used to indifference then the neighbor or any family members/friends would have noticed.
Katherine Uribe
It is obvious that the gentleman is suffering in some way, certainly emotionally. He needs help. It would be unfair to judge him unless you've been in his situation. He's probably never had to deal with real adult issues; his mother took care of everything for him. Her protection actually made him victim to other problems. When he said he didn't know what to do, I believe him. He's going to need support to deal with entering the world and all that entails.
AramaTaihenNoYouDidnt
I blame the authorities involved. They are either careless or useless, maybe both! RIP old sister. And as for the son, he is fully aware of the matter and opted to overlook. He is wrong on so many levels. Now the city has to take over his welfare...like to see how this pans out.