national

'Hikikomori' son lives with father's corpse for two weeks

11 Comments

When a death occurs, most people can quickly and responsibly deal with the situation. However, a man in Osaka knowingly left his father’s corpse in the house and lived with it for almost two weeks without alerting authorities. The man told police that he was unable to contact anyone about the death because he is a "hikikomori."

"Hikikomori" (引きこもり) refers to an individual who has withdrawn from society and social interaction for long periods of time. In many cases, these people don’t leave their homes, hold jobs, or have any friends. They are often middle class men in their thirties who rely on their parents for support. In English we would probably call this kind of person a hermit or shut-in.

In Japan there is a growing population of people with this condition. A Japanese government report from 2010 stated there were possibly 700,000 "hikikomori" in Japan and 1.55 million more on the verge of becoming "hikikomori." Rigid societal and cultural pressures are said to be some of the main contributing factors. For example, failing an entrance can be one of the triggers.

On Dec 12, police received a call from the Asahi district of Osaka. The 34-year-old unemployed man living in the single room residence stated, “My father is dead.” The man and his father had been living together because of the father’s poor health.

Upon investigation, the local police found the body of the 68-year-old father lying on a futon. The father’s body had no signs of any external injuries. The man said that after waking up on Dec 1, he noticed that his father wasn’t breathing. Rather than contact the outside world, the man lived with the body of his father for almost two weeks. Authorities are looking into the cause of death and have started preliminary measures on whether to charge the man for abandonment of a body.

Source: Hachima Kiko

Read more stories from RocketNews24. -- Osaka’s eeriest dead body incident -- Counselor Has Harsh Words for Parents of Hikikomori -- Japanese Man Perfects, Battles Most Useless Machine

© By Blaine Harvey

©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.

11 Comments
Login to comment

Authorities are looking into the cause of death and have started preliminary measures on whether to charge the man for abandonment of a body.

Good luck charging him with abandonment. The guy probably was never more than 20 feet away from the body for the entire two weeks. Either the smell or the lack of food probably drove him to finally report the death.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I really think stuff like this that happens in other countries comes from Japan. Really. I NEVER heard of such from my school days until I came here to Japan. Only here do they have this kind of stuff. Bullying and people isolating themselves. They somehow create this bully atmosphere. You have to fit in. You can't do anything different. You can't have a unique personality. They control it to were only cool and hip people by their standards will have a place, and then shut out and bully people who don't fit in that circle. Then again, some of those people I heard just like to be alone and isolated, no matter how much you try to bring them out for a drink or dinner. I never met one, but heard about it. Demonic.

-4 ( +0 / -4 )

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-23255526

1 ( +1 / -0 )

No Michael, it's a type of psychiatric illness. You can't judge people with this medical condition any more than you can judge a person with asthma or a brain tumour.

Is it really a psychiatric illness? If it were, it would seem to me we would see similar numbers in other cultures as well. Since we don't, it seems like a societal construct more than a psychiatric problem - aka an issue of spoiled brats rather than an issue of craziness.

-4 ( +1 / -5 )

Poor fellow finds himself struggling mentally and physically in disconnecting from his father's body with such state condition !!! RIP.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

"In English we would probably call this kind of person a hermit or shut-in." -- The word "loser" comes to mind as well...

Wow, great compassion there. One can't help but wonder if you'd spout the same opinion if someone you personally cared about ever had to deal with those demons.

8 ( +9 / -1 )

"In English we would probably call this kind of person a hermit or shut-in." -- The word "loser" comes to mind as well...

No Michael, it's a type of psychiatric illness. You can't judge people with this medical condition any more than you can judge a person with asthma or a brain tumour.

9 ( +11 / -2 )

"In English we would probably call this kind of person a hermit or shut-in." -- The word "loser" comes to mind as well...

-10 ( +3 / -11 )

Failing an entrance? Do they mean an entrance exam? Whatever the case, it's a sorry state of existence and I don't know how anyone could stand the sight and the smell, even with a possibly slower decaying rate due to the cooler temperatures inside and out. RIP. Hopefully the son also gets the help he needs to break away from the hikkikomori lifestyle. Good luck.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Actually, I think the correct English term would be, chronic agoraphobia!

-6 ( +2 / -8 )

How can he be charged with abandonment if he didn't abandon the body. As the story reads, he never left the house.

5 ( +5 / -0 )

Login to leave a comment

Facebook users

Use your Facebook account to login or register with JapanToday. By doing so, you will also receive an email inviting you to receive our news alerts.

Facebook Connect

Login with your JapanToday account

User registration

Articles, Offers & Useful Resources

A mix of what's trending on our other sites