Nearly 300 Japanese pensioners may be dead

Official data in Japan has shown that 271 people over 100 years old were missing as of last week and that 25 of them continued to receive state pensions. Five out of 59 pensioners over 110 are dead and one is missing, according to Health, Labour and Welfare Ministry figures released Friday.

AFP

The number of pensioners older than 85 whose whereabouts cannot be immediately confirmed was estimated at around 800, the ministry said.

Municipal officials across Japan scrambled to check on the whereabouts of the country's oldest citizens after the discovery in Tokyo of the 30-year-old corpse of a man who was registered as still alive at 111.

Police Friday arrested the man's daughter and granddaughter on suspicion of illegally receiving nine million yen (800,000 euros) in pension payments.

In another case, the remains of a Tokyo woman believed to be 104 were found stuffed into her son's backpack, where they had been for more than a decade.

The city’s official figure 40,000 centenarians may have to be scaled down thanks to the revelations.

Local councils have admitted that they neglected the family registries of thousands
of centenarians, including a man who was born 200 years ago.

In Japan, family registries hold official records, including those of births and marriages. Entries are required to be struck off when a citizen dies.