A lot of people always say that Japan is “full of centenarians”. That somehow a ton of people live to be 100 there, more than anywhere else… and it’s true that people in Japan live long. But not that long, and not that often. We can thank a man named Sogen Kato for this myth. Or, rather, his family.
See in 2010, authorities in Tokyo came unannounced to the house of a man called Sogen Kato — according to government statistics Kato, 111, was Tokyo’s oldest man. So they knocked on the door and were sent away. Mr. Kato didn’t want to receive visitors. They insisted but kept being sent away. Eventually, a granddaughter confessed to the crime — grandfather had been dead for thirty years, but the family hid the fact to collect money from the government. Police found Kato’s mummified remains in his room.
Japanese authorities cracked down on social fraud and found out 77,000(!) people claimed to be over 100 had actually died already. One man in the registry was said to still be alive at 186. So yes, Japan has a lot of really old people — but statistics were helped by an awful lot of ‘forgetful’ relatives.
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