Woman kept mother’s body in house for more than year, hoping she would come back to life

This story again?!?!?! It’s usually because someone is trying to collect the deceased’s pension. “I was hoping she’d come back to life”. Yeah, whatever.

The lives of shut-in Christians in Japan.

"I was waiting for Easter. I believe in the resurrection don't cha know."

S

It could be more than collecting a pension. Funerals alongside Driving Licenses here are a scam designed to cheat people out of more money. Its not like you can have a small private funeral that's reasonably priced.

Both the DMVs and the Funeral Homes are running a scam on par with the Ore Ore scams we hear about so often.

Why can't funerals be funded by the gov? If they did that there might be a lot less of these people burying their dead newborns in the back gardens or keeping their dead elderly relatives in the houses.

Well, that's a new excuse. She gets an A for originality.

This has been a problem in Japan for decades and some researchers have pointed out that this inflates Japan's life expectancy which means Japan may not be as long-lived as we have been lead to believe.

Which researchers are claiming that there are close to a million households concealing the bodies of relatives? Because that's what would be needed to significantly impact life expectancy. Not to mention it's measured by determining the age of death when the death is recorded. Hidden bodies would not affect the stats either way.

The remaining part of the pension left when a person dies should be awarded to the estate as a lump sum. After all it is money earned by the deceased. This money can then be used for funerals and arrangements. Heirs get the rest.

A pension thief with an imagination. I’m pretty sure the body would be quite stinky and mummified after a year. The chances of her coming back to life are pretty slim.

Why can't funerals be funded by the gov?

I still paying for my mum-in-laws passing. The funerals, private and friends, monks, temple, burning and ceremony, flowers, presents, 49 day funeral with gifts and kaiseki restaurant, monk, temple, 100 days commeration with gifts and kaiseki restaurant, monk, temple. Alter in our house. Legal fees and charges from the care home. She left this world with no money and our house has around 40 boxes of her old junk.

if the person in this story was collecting her pension, the ¥70000 a month would in no way cover the ¥3.5million+ we paid for a normal funeral.

1) He wanted to keep claiming the pension

2) Probably lived in such a filthy house, as most do here, that even a rotting, dead body didn't really lower the standard of the house much.

Its not like you can have a small private funeral that's reasonably priced.

Err, yes, you can. I've been to a couple that cost under 250,000 yen. The deceased person paid for it with funeral insurance while they were still alive.

Yes, highly probably the pension…but there are really people out there who believe such things of dead bodies coming back to life. Some rich people order even cryobiological freezing, others reserve space rocket place for to be shot into orbit and all such. You simply cannot fully exclude that her mother might come back to life, although the probability is nearly zero. The same for religion in general. No one has seen any god , but although almost improbable, one cannot fully exclude the existence of gods. Therefore, as religion is widely accepted, you also simply cannot convict that woman who has or pretends to have such similar strange beliefs.

in no way cover the ¥3.5million+ we paid for a normal funeral.

Why did you allow yourself to get ripped off so badly?

Local authorities provide cremations, no service, for ¥20,000.

Huh. The article's title smelled like a SoraNews article.

Is it possible to make an autopsy on a year old cadaver? I'd assume it'd be at an advanced decomposing stage.

We paid less than ¥100K each for two relatives. Still got their remains in my Tokonoma.

Autopsy should be performed to make sure the dead was natural.

the relatives of diseased person should be entitled to some payment if they are low income people without significant assets.

""would come back to life"" !!?

Ya, it's possible but her $$ pension was coming faster.

Err, yes, you can. I've been to a couple that cost under 250,000 yen.

Err- YOU'RE making the assumption that anyone has 250,000 yen to drop. That amount of money is more than a 1 month's salary for some!

Local authorities provide cremations, no service, for ¥20,000.

Still too expensive for no service. I'd rather be buried in my backyard with a private service of family and friends.

We cremated my father in law and my son was horrified. He said "Dad, I don't want to be cremated." I promised him that no one in our immediate family would be.

Gonna go out on a limb and say that’s she’s lying.

I sort of hope they throw the book at her for this. Mostly because of the level of gall and entitlement it takes to lie so brazenly, but also for the attempt try to capitalise on grief.

wallaceToday  09:32 am JST

We paid less than ¥100K each for two relatives. Still got their remains in my Tokonoma.

I hope you mean cremains.....

The remaining part of the pension left when a person dies should be awarded to the estate as a lump sum.

In Japan there is no 'remaining part of the pension'. You get your pension paid while you're alive, whether you make it to 65, 70 or 110. When you die the payments stop, end of.

Greedy or playing Stupidity?

hoping she would come back to life

back to reality

This kind of thing is almost daily news and will only be one more common on the way things are headed.

It’s about time they create some rules around this. Ie you have to physically make an appearance at the ward office quarterly to continue receiving. Not so complicated.

This stories and ones like mothers disposing of their babies are usually a direct result of the inadequate social services system in Japan. Support is required for all in society. You never know when you may need it.

Rodney - I still paying for my mum-in-laws passing

The city halls offer a ‘no frills’ funeral service for ¥40,000.

"Hoping she will come back," is a good excuse. But funeral costs here are ridiculous. If the police want to stop this kind of "having dinner with a dead body nearby" thing, then allow for cheap funerals & burials.

then allow for cheap funerals & burials.

40,000 yen is pretty cheap.

The lives of shut-in Christians in Japan.

"I was waiting for Easter. I believe in the resurrection don't cha know."

Why getting Christianity involved in this all of a sudden? Taking a bad example to blackmouth all Christians. Its even unknown if shes the one or just used a creative excuse.

@wallace

It is only that cheap if you die in your registered domicile. My wife died last year and what with dry ice etc., while we waited for a slot at the crematorium, it cost ¥300,000 with no service or any trimmings.

＠cleo

No, the pension is not necessarily finished at death, there is a 'bereaved family pension' if the other family members are receiving no pension.

That's a real sick and demented person with serious mental problems.

there is a 'bereaved family pension' if the other family members are receiving no pension.

'Other family members' is I think restricted to the spouse and minor children who are dependants of the deceased, it depends on the type of pension and there are all kinds of caveats and conditions. Just being 'a family member' does not get you a 'bereaved family pension', and payment depends on the status of the recipient, not how much of the deceased's pension is left.

There is no 'remaining part of the pension' to be doled out as a lump sum.

Also, autopsies are very rarely done in Japan.

Not sure why your post attracted so many downvotes - it is a well-known problem in Japan and there have even been articles on this problem on JT before.

I suspect the reason is because it is perceived as an attack on Japan, but perhaps it also draws attention to the Japanese disdain for jobs that involve death and related professions (butchers, slaughterhouse workers, leather workers, pathologists), and the relatively few people willing to do them, and the perception of people who do these jobs.

Didnt think about this earlier, but if pension is ¥70000 and 4 grandparents, then ¥280000. That's not too bad for a UBI.

Per month

I did even need to read the article - got full value from that headline.

cleoToday  03:59 pm JST

There is no 'remaining part of the pension' to be doled out as a lump sum.

Sorry Cleo but you are wrong. The payments you pay during your lifetime are calculated estimating you live X years. If you die before everything has been dispersed, there is amount left.

The system keeps it in the current form to pay off other people’s pension.

In other words, the payments one made during their life team are easily calculable, as is the amount they have received until death.

If one of my parents died in my house, that would be time to say good bye. See you in Heaven. Call the authorities. Then, get a job.

But in Japan?!

Must have been pretty ripe after a year!

I was reading somewhere a while back that there are businesses that keep dead peoples heads in a cryo state waiting for scientists to one day be able to bring these heads back to life by attaching them to a body.

No matter how ridiculous and sick this sounds, family members are prepared to pay a fortune for this service.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryonics

Stick me in a cardboard box, and pay for the cheapest. No need for price gouging.

I'd rather pay a pub to do have a bunch of drinks and a wake.

If you die before everything has been dispersed, there is amount left.

There is no lump sum calculated on what you paid in and how long you lived, to be doled out as leftovers to your estate. As you note, if you die too young to have got your money’s worth -

The system keeps it in the current form to pay off other people’s pension.

And if you live past your allotted years, there is no danger of being told as you celebrate your 88th or 90th or 100th birthday, ‘Sorry, you’ve had all you paid in, no more pension for you.’

Look on it as a form of insurance, not a savings scheme.

Actually most pensioners get more out of the system than they paid in, which is one reason the national finances are in a bit of a pickle.

I think this because many nationalistic-bent readers downvote anything critical of Japan automatically as they scroll through the comments and upvote those that are positive.

Yeah, it is not as though there is anything slightly controversial about it, see previous JT and academic papers:

https://japantoday.com/category/features/kuchikomi/japans-autopsy-rate-woefully-low

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23861120/

I guess any perceived problem in Japan makes some readers very sensitive. But it's also important that Japan overcomes its dear of autopsy.

Well, she gets points for creativity that's for sure. But I suspect the real reason is that she wanted to collect her mother's pension. I don't understand how this happens though - I mean the smell alone would make anyone scamper and wouldn't the neighbors make inquiries as to where mommy dearest is?

@WeiWei Looking at the number of people over 60 and the projected elderly population of Japan in the future the country would go DEAD bankrupt!

The remaining part of the pension left when a person dies should be awarded to the estate as a lump sum. After all it is money earned by the deceased. This money can then be used for funerals and arrangements. Heirs get the rest.

Sorry for the daughter but Jesus was not a woman ;)

Then just the smell wouldnmake you sick and a call for insects and more pests...

The pension is better than to move out of the house for many.

We never hear about the consequences but it is a social heist and it seems it is always a positive choice for the offspring. Hence the non stop absence of death reporting.

No need to keep a body. It is a cadaver. Yes, she will come back to life as everybody else, in their due time after the appointed time.

Will she be arrested and charged with fraude or theft?

Will she be asked to repay all of the money that she's wrongfully claimed for?

I am surprised that no one noticed that something was wrong as decomposing flesh stinks, you can't mask it.

cashing checks on behalf of deceased, clearly NOT relevant!

Hello Kitty

@wallace

It is only that cheap if you die in your registered domicile. My wife died last year and what with dry ice etc., while we waited for a slot at the crematorium, it cost ¥300,000 with no service or any trimmings.

Sorry for your loss, sad and painful. If people have no money they can ask the welfare to make the cremation.

So... did she forego the pension checks while waiting for mom to return? My guess is no.