Saturday, July 31, 2010

The secret of the high life expectancy in Japan revealed!

When it comes to ranking the average age of death globally, Japan usually shows up in the top positions, boasting one of the longest life expectancies globally. Why this is the case has been speculated widely and I remember discussions on the soy based diet etc. presented as possible explanations.

However, based on some recent news here in Japan, I think the secret is finally revealed! It was recently discovered that the man with the second longest life in Japan, clocking in at a good 111 years of age was actually dead and had been so for a good ~30 years or so. However, the family, who the man lived/died with had failed to "notice" this and kept collecting the retirement money while their beloved father was "resting" in his room in a stage of advanced mummification.

They had successfully wardered off inquiries from suspecting friends and neighbors through saying that their father didn't want to meet with anyone for a good 30 years until things recently fell apart when the authorities finally got a bit snoopy around this after being pressed by other concerned relatives and friends of the long passed away man. (News in Japanese here)

Maybe this could be written off as a one case thing, but a few years earlier a similar business arrangement was discovered in West Japan with a "107-year old" man "resting" in a mummified stage.

So, I think we finally have solved the mystery of the long life expectancy in Japan - they're living dead! I hope Baby Sunshine will some day find a way to put me to use in a similar way for profit and fun.

4 comments:

Fernando said...

for profit AND fun lol

illahee said...

didn't they claim he was a 'living buddah?' i thought that was funny!

aimlesswanderer said...

Nothing like a good scam, and the Japanese are no exception. But to maintain it for 30 years, that has got to be some sort of record! These people should work the the Japanese intelligence agency, they can obviously keep a secret.

You daughter will just say that you have "gone back to scandanavia", she has it easy. Better not give her any ideas...

Mr. Salaryman said...

Illa - This time they didn't really claim anything, but kinda throws a shadow over things if a "living buddah" still wants his retirement money ;)

Aimless - Yep, pretty amazing. You would think that they would realize that at one point or another the scam would fall apart since no one really lives forever...

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