Kodokushi
Kodokushi ( Japanese 孤独 死 , dt. "Lonely dying" or "lonely death") refers to the death of mostly lonely people, in whom the death goes unnoticed for a long time. The body of the deceased often remains undiscovered for months or years, and the person is also not missing.
The term Kodokushi was coined in Japan in the 1980s. In the meantime (as of 2015) 3,000 people die in loneliness every year in the Tokyo area alone. The high number of people living in social isolation also resulted in deaths going unnoticed. According to Yōkō Kadoya, two characteristic features of Kodokushi can be made out:
- Middle and older men in particular are affected by the phenomenon. In contrast, in women, Kodokushi is more likely at older ages. Not only in Japan do men spend a lot of time at work and have little contact with other people outside the family. In the event of a lack of social competence , retirement from professional life can also lead to social isolation.
- Kodokushi often appears in conjunction with other social problems such as alcoholism or messie syndrome .
Individual evidence
- ↑ People increasingly die alone and unnoticed , Telepolis . Retrieved August 12, 2010.
- ↑ [Der Standard]: Kodokushi: The Lonely Death in Japan, June 8, 2015, accessed June 8, 2015
- ↑ Youkou Kadoya, Kodokushi - Solitary Death, published in Lessons from the Great Hanshin Earthquake , Ed. Yoshimitsu Shiozaki, 2005
- ↑ Japan's 'Lonely Deaths': A Business Opportunity , Time . Retrieved August 12, 2010.