Social workers who went to meet a man listed in official records as the oldest person living in Tokyo got a shock when they went to his home - he had been dead for 30 years.
Sogen Kato was born on July 22, 1899, and died at the age of 81 in 1980. But Mr Kato's family failed to tell anyone and kept his mummified body in his bed.
When officials tried to check up on him, family members repeatedly chased them away.
Unable to congratulate him on turning 111, and needing to update their list of centenarians ahead of 'Respect For The Elderly Day' in September, they finally called in police.
When officers forced their way into the family home in Adachi ward - one of Tokyo's busiest commuter districts - on Wednesday, they found his mummified skeletal remains, wearing underwear and pyjamas and covered with a blanket.
His 53-year-old granddaughter told investigators he holed up in his room about 30 years ago after declaring he wanted to be a living Buddha.
Police said yesterday that they believe Mr Kato, believed to have been one of the five oldest people in the world, died soon after that.
His family are now facing a fraud investigation, amid suspicion they received pension money paid to Mr Kato and his late wife, who died six years ago.
It is claimed they received 9.5million yen (£70,000) in widower's pension payments via Mr Kato's bank account since 2004 - some of the money had recently been withdrawn.
Tokyo metropolitan welfare official Yutaka Muroi said: 'His family must have known he has been dead all these years and acted as if nothing happened.
'It's so eerie.'
Authorities in Japan were yesterday trying to establish whether it is a case of religious belief gone wrong or social security fraud.
His family - a 79-year-old daughter and two grandchildren aged 49 and 53 - claim Mr Kato was a devout and stubborn man.
They say in about 1980 he announced to was going to become 'a buddha in his own body', which is an extreme practice of the Shingon sect of Buddhism.
It involves refusing food and water while meditating to achieve 'Buddhahood', then the resulting corpse does not decay but mummifies naturally.
Posted By: Siebra Muhammad
Saturday, July 31st 2010 at 6:17PM
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