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Police in Tokyo have arrested an unemployed 45-year-old man on suspicioning of abandoning the body of his father in the bathroom of their apartment in Nerima Ward.
The suspect, Hideyoshi Takeda, was quoted by police as saying his father, who was in his 80s, died in 2014, and he didn't know what to do with the body as he couldn't afford to pay for a funeral, Fuji TV reported. He also said that his father, in his will, asked that they remain together even after he died.
Takeda went to the Nerima city hall on Wednesday to apply for welfare. When the person in charge asked if he lived alone, he said his father had died three years ago. However, since no death certificate was on record, the welfare office contacted police.
Police on Thursday visited Takeda's apartment and found the remains of his father in vinyl bags in the bathtub.
Takeda continued to receive his father's pension after he died, police said.
© Japan Today
13 Comments
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HollisBrown
Stories like this seem quite normal now. I reckon I read a similar story about once a month on average. That of course discounts all the cases that have yet to be discovered, but are no doubt happening right now.
It's one of the many issues in Japan that I never hear serious discussion about, never mind attempts to fix the problem.
DaDude
If you can't afford a funeral with zero yen to your name, what is the process? No way do I condone what he did but I have never been in his situation.
garypen
"Ignore it, and it will go away" is another issue one never hears serious discussion about, or sees attempts to fix the problem.
Disillusioned
The city hall will take care of a funeral for around ¥40,000 and let them pay it off through their ward tax in very small instalments. There is no excuse for this kind of thing. As stated above, it seems to be a monthly discovery. There is a cheap option for these people. I have to wonder how many of these 'skeletons in the closet' are to cover up murders.
Mike L
Japan the country where "skeleton in the closet" can literally be true.
Luddite
Forget all that old pony about not knowing what to do with the body, this is why he kept his dead dad in the bathroom.
Civitas Sine Suffragio
Scumbag. He knew perfectly well what he was doing - continuing to collect his dad's pension money because he was too lazy to get off his own arse and work. "45 y/o unemployed man in Japan" is a big red flag right away.
Myhumbletake
That's a tough house to live in. Desperate moments, uncommon measures.
sensei258
So it's not about being able to afford a funeral. It's about a guy who doesn't want to work
Andrew Crisp
If this wasn't so serious it would be actually amusing - keeping a dead body in your bathroom for three years what did he do with it everytime the guy wanted to have a bath or shower.
Mike L
I doubt there were too many ladies paying him visits with Dad decomposing in the bathroom.
badman
He just wanted the pension payments to keep coming. His laziness overcame all sense of humanity.
Robert pearce
All about money.
Nothing more or less.