In Japan, dying alone has its own name: kodokushi. It is not a poetic metaphor. It is a real, documented and increasingly common term: people who die alone at home and whose bodies are not found until weeks, months or even years later.
In 2024, according to the annual report of Japan's National Police Agency, more than 76,000 people were found dead in solitude in their homes. Of these, 58,044 were 65 or older — 76% of the total.
1 Origins of a word nobody would want to know
The term kodokushi began to be used in the 1970s and 1980s, as Japan's accelerating population ageing became apparent. It gained prominence after the Kobe earthquake of 1995, when dozens of older people died in their homes without anyone being able to help them.
That tragedy exposed something deeper than a natural disaster: the progressive erosion of community and family bonds. In Japan, an unwritten social rule says: do not bother, do not inconvenience, do not ask for help. When the body fails and no one is nearby to notice, that courtesy becomes a silent trap.
2 When prison becomes a refuge
One of the most revealing aspects of this phenomenon is that of so-called "grey criminals": older people who deliberately commit minor offences to be sent to prison. They are not seeking punishment. They are seeking shelter, food, medical care and company.
"They prefer the bars to indifference."
— Official from Japan's Ministry of Justice
Today, nearly 20% of crimes in Japan are committed by older people, and the recidivism rate exceeds 60% within two years of release. When a society fails to offer care and belonging, even spaces designed to punish can become refuges.
3 Community and technological responses
Japan has started to respond. In 2021 the role of Minister for Loneliness was created. Local initiatives have also emerged:
- Community monitoring programmes where neighbours carry out daily check-ins.
- Alert systems based on anomalous patterns of water or electricity consumption.
- Day centres where people can simply be present, chat, or share a coffee.
- Traditional support networks, such as the moai of Okinawa.
4 Kodokushi: a mirror for the rest of the world
Over 30% of people aged 65+ live alone.
1 in 4 older adults says they feel lonely frequently.
Loneliness is now considered an epidemic, with effects comparable to smoking.
The most worrying thing is not just how people die, but how forgetting is normalised.
When we assume "someone will notice" or "if they haven't called, they must be fine", loneliness becomes invisible — and dangerous.
A society is not measured only by its growth or innovation, but by how it cares for those who are no longer productive yet still need to be seen, heard and accompanied.
At CuidadIA, rethinking how to be present — even when no one calls — is the starting point of everything we do.
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