Despite government efforts to stem the tide, Japan is facing a rising number of “lonely deaths”, or people dying in isolation. The issue has become such a part of modern society here that it even has its own term, “kodokushi” – accounting for about 5% of Japan’s total death rate.
Data released by the government and police in late April showed that there were 76,941 “lonely deaths” across Japan in the fiscal year 2025 that ended March 31. This is 921 cases more than last year.
Authorities estimate that 22,222 of the total “unaccompanied deaths” were also “koritsushi,” meaning the person’s body was not found for at least eight days. In 7,148 incidents, i.e. about 9% of the total incidents, the body could not be discovered for more than a month.
The majority of “lonely deaths” were elderly people, although the figures included 57 teenagers and 753 people over the age of 20. This increase has prompted debate about loneliness and isolation in modern Japan.
“Japanese society has changed a lot in a very short period of time,” said Izumi Tsuji, a professor of sociology of culture at Chuo University in Tokyo.
“There are many contributing factors, but I think the biggest contributor is the end of the traditional nuclear family and the shift toward individualization or people living alone,” he told DW.
Isolation of urban tower blocks
For at least three decades, Japan has been experiencing a decline in its rural population as young people have left villages and small towns for more educational opportunities and, later, better job prospects. The communities they left behind now have very few young residents. Older people are becoming increasingly isolated and many of them are dying alone.
“When I was a kid, I grew up in a house with my parents and two grandparents,” he said. “And it was completely normal for multiple generations of the family to live in one house. This was only a few decades ago, but that barn or living arrangement is now rare and almost unheard of in cities.”
Tsuji points out that life in Japan’s big cities has its own problems, as people typically move into apartments in high-rise housing complexes and live only on the receiving end of their neighbors.
“Japanese people never lived in tower blocks,” he said. “We lived in communities where houses were surrounded by open areas where all the kids played together and you talked to your neighbors every day. You got to know these people and, if someone in the community needed something, there was always a support system.”
The government is pushing against isolating the elderly
Tsuji says that human connection is important for mental health.
“Now, anyone living in the apartment block has been locked down and isolated,” he said. “I don’t think humans are meant to live this way; I think we need relationships with people around us, need to talk and interact with people.”
The Professor proposes a radical solution – he calls for the residential blocks to be demolished and people to return to more close-knit community living. Although this is likely to be a very tough sell for the Japanese government, officials also acknowledge that “kodokushi” is a problem that needs to be addressed quickly, as the Japanese population continues to age.
In 2021, the government created the post of Minister for Loneliness and Isolation, with the task of fighting the extremely high suicide rates and mental health issues among both children and adults.
In April 2024, the government introduced the Combating Loneliness and Isolation Act to encourage local authorities to set up specialist agencies with trained staff to reach out to people living alone and make them feel part of their community. A key element of this is to break the stigma associated with the problem and encourage senior citizens to accept help, even if they insist on living independently and not being dependent on others.
The campaign has triggered the creation of residents’ associations that focus on vulnerable neighbours, events where senior citizens can socialise, cafés specifically for people suffering from dementia or similar age-related complaints, as well as specialist NGOs and welfare support organisations.
finding hope after disaster
On March 11, 2011, the coastal city of Ishinomaki was devastated by the largest earthquake in Japan’s recorded history and a series of powerful tsunamis, which also affected a power plant in Fukushima. The earthquake and flood destroyed much of Ishinomaki, killing thousands, businesses and homes were destroyed, and much of the local infrastructure, including transportation services, was washed away.
The following month, Katsuyuki Ito began escorting Ishinomaki’s elderly residents to banks, hospitals, city hall, and the few remaining supermarkets. Their volunteer efforts have since evolved into an NGO called RERA.
“We now have six vehicles and a team of eight volunteers,” said volunteer Kei Ueno, 50, who moved to Ishinomaki soon after the disaster.
“Most of the people we help are elderly or disabled and need help getting around,” he said. “Many of them have lost their families so they are forced to live alone and have little contact with other people most of the time.”
“The elderly person we help is 94 years old and I often hear that the best part of his day is when RERA volunteers come to pick him up,” he said.
“So we help them by taking them to places they need to go, but I think it’s much more than that,” he said. “These people are older and lonely, so the support and conversation we provide is just as important.”
Edited by: Darko Janjevic