Well, yes, the head was here
The body was lying like that, and the legs, like that
I guess that's why he was lying like that
With lonely deaths,
time just seems to stop
Unfinished food and drinks are typical
It's a sign nobody from the family came here
It seems he was just living his usual life, and something happened
The body was found 10 days later…
10 days!
[Masatomi]Of course, we should find out precisely
Most likely, the neighbours found the body
The family's refused the inheritance, so it seems they weren't close
When you see stuff like this,
you know money was probably tight
There's nothing here
He only bought what he was going to eat right away
There's nothing else, so he probably had a hard life…
I guess
I'll only remove the rotting, smelly stuff today
Of course,
if the deceased is just left lying like that, the body will begin to decompose
The liquid from the corpse begins to drain and evaporate
The human body is almost entirely water, so there's liquid
It evaporates, but a clear imprint of the body remains
I've been doing this for 10 years and…
I can say that the number of lonely deaths is increasing
It's estimated that three men die alone every hour
In present-day Japan, people don't socialise much in their local communities,
so, quite often, deceased people are found rather late,
when the body's already decomposing and giving off a strong odour
Go ahead and eat
[Isao]Our main attraction is delicious food
Gratin, tonkatsu, kasujiru soup: these are the most popular dishes…
to this day
Yes, please
Asahi?
Please, sit there, at the end… Right!
You simply must try the tonkatsu, gratin, and kasujiru
Don't you want to eat?
You must be hungry
The elderly?
They do come, but not more than 30…
30 elderly people a day tops, in 24 hours
It's boring living alone, so they come to talk to me or other patrons: they're lonely
Everyone has their favourite place
He always sits there
The same with time
Everyone comes at a certain time and orders the same dishes...
more or less
If someone stops coming in, sometimes you go and find them lying dead in their room
It's happened a lot
[Mariko]Restaurants where you can talk to someone are rare
My daughter lives near Neyagawa Station on the Keihan Railway
I have a grandson too
They call, and I call them too
How many times per week?
Well, about twice a month, something like that
If something happened, they would call me
Well, of course, being alone is sad
I'm the weakest, but I'm still alive
I guess God still wants something from me
Mum used to say: 'If you feel like crying, cry'
So I do cry, yes, I do
You feel relieved after crying, you feel lighter
Dotonbori Ninjo
Dotonbori Ninjo…
Please, listen to this song
Here it goes
If you've been cast aside,
it's a silly thing to cry
To cry…
Oh, I forget the words…
Forget that rainy night
You must not lose!
You must not lose in Nishinari!
[Shinzoh]The vast majority of the population in Nishinari's Airin district
are odd-job people and retired old men
49.1% of the residents are over the age of 65
When Japan's economy was booming in the '60s and '70s,
there was a labour shortage
So…
people were relocated to various sites to work on civil engineering projects
Since the 1990s, there's been less and less of this work
And so...
The workers usually came here alone, without their families
These people lost contact with their families while working here,
so now they're old and all by themselves
So, let's begin
First of all, the number of falls increases with age
So, to help you maintain balance in your hip joints and make them more flexible,
I'll teach you some exercises
The hip goes up…
To make it clearer, we'll take it in two steps
Just rotating your hips will suffice
And now the other way
[Shinzoh]Treatment is complicated by the fact that these people have lost touch with those around them
They stay home until the very last moment, when they feel very bad
Usually, they arrive by ambulance
Sometimes they fall, and are then found dead
I don't know the exact number, but I think there are a lot of cases like that
This is Yokoo. Can I help you?
- If you'd be so kind - Yes?
I called earlier
- You're from Hirakata, right? - Yes
- So, look. He died in September - Right
Since he lived alone, I couldn't reach him
Yes…
Then I got a call from the police, and they said…
Well, that he'd been found dead
Right, but first, can you tell me how long it's been since he died?
At least, approximately...
- Well, I think a month and a half - A month and a half
- Was it a traditional Japanese room? - Yes, a washitsu
One more thing… I'm not sure, but I think it's dirty in there
Right, it probably stinks and is infested with insects
Yes, crawling with them. I was there today, the police gave me the keys, so…
Ah, I see! Thank you for contacting me
If you would…
Yes. Goodbye!
[Masatomi]Frankly, when the phone rings, I think here it goes, not again!
Usually, when the phone rings at your workplace, it makes you happy,
but I have mixed feelings
Let's go
- All this for recycling? - Yeah
- This is definitely for recycling - Then it goes over there
What? To give away or recycle?
- To recycling - To recycling, got it!
[Masatomi]The things we bring here are the most sought after recyclable items
That's what we make money on
We resell them. There are second-hand dealers here right now
They're in the recycling business
They choose the best here and take it there
Our principle income is from selling these things
[Masatomi]When you get the keys and are told: 'That's where he died, go have a look'
I go there in fear,
to be honest
Sometimes you think: I don't want to go in there
Sometimes it's scary in the flat… All these puddles of excretions and fat
If the deceased was heavy, you see fat all over the place
And you think to yourself:
how awful!
It's even hard to look at
Frankly, sometimes I think, that's it! I don't want to do this anymore
Do you want to see the prayer room?
- The prayer room? - Let's have a look
In Japan, since ancient times, it's been believed that dolls have souls
so they can't just be thrown away
We always hold a prayer service for them
But afterwards, we can dispose of them like regular trash
[Ayano]Right now, we're going to visit a man who's 80 years old
When I went to see him recently, I noticed skin flaking off his feet
His feet are in really bad shape
I've been coming over once a week lately
I was told he's lost touch with his family
Besides… well… I don't really know the details
At any rate, there's no one around to support him
If they don't open the door, we return a few more times
We leave a note on the doorframe
If no one takes it after a few days,
at that point, we open the door
Sometimes you look in, and they're already dead
Murata-san, it's Mori!
You can open the door yourself, can't you?
- Hello - Hello, I'm eating
- You have this thing on your head again? - No
- Show me your feet - So you're a dermatologist?
Show me
You didn't use the ointment, did you?
I told you…
Look, it's all better now
It looks worse than last time
- Well… - It's awful!
Let's put on a little ointment
And there too
One more thing, the booze!
- You should drink less! - Heard it before!
- You need to quit drinking - I was told to quit drinking and smoking
You shouldn't be drinking at all, but you start in the morning!
Not true!
My children live in Hakodate
It's on Hokkaido, Hakodate
It was they who ran away!
They did!
Do you ever see them?
No, I don't
When was the last time?
Well, it was about five years ago
Do you feel lonely?
Of course, because I'm all alone
[Masatomi]When I decided to become a musician,
my parents were really worried about me, as I'm a man
My older brother was a model student, so they worried more about me,
even after I gave up music and began to work
Then, my grandmother died suddenly in the bath
My mum had collagenosis at the time
My mother was grieving, but she still had to clean out the house after the funeral
And, watching my mother doing that, I realised this work could be helpful and socially useful
I'd already quit music and knew it was for good
And, at this moment, when I didn't know what to do with my life,
grandma showed me the way
After I'd tried it, I knew it suited me, so I'm very thankful
That's why I feel like I have to do my best to help people
It's become like my life's purpose
- Careful, the sake's hot - OK
[Toshio]I usually come here at this time, at 10pm
I always have someone to talk to here
I was disabled at work, so they let me run a tab here
Well, I'm already 70 years old
And I kind of…
I try not to be a burden on my daughter
My relationship with my daughter's…
Well, what can I say?
My wife died, so…
Of course, I can call my daughter, but it's hard to talk to her husband
He's young
So, I don't go to their place that often
Well, I wish I was healthier
I wish I could go to a karaoke place once in a while and talk to women of my own generation,
old ladies my age
Just talking to someone who understands is a pleasure
Out of beer? Give it here
Here you go
And this is my American cottage
I manage it
You see?
'American Cottage' is written there
I rent the rooms out to old men
So, come on up
There's a man sleeping in this room now
Mito Komon lives here
I guess he's watching TV now
Hey, Mr Funada
Sorry to disturb you
That's where one of them lives… two, three, four, five
Five of them
[Isao]They’re all over 60
The people that live here have lost contact with their families
They take their meals at our cafe
Some come twice a day, others 3 times
These baby boomers all had jobs back in the day, 20-25 years ago, and now they're retired
All their loved ones have died and they're sad, that's loneliness
They have no one left but me, they hear nothing from their relatives
[Shinzoh]This is just my personal opinion,
but it seems the traditional family unit of past times
and… the support it provided is slowly fading away
Children don't take care of their parents anymore,
so they have to do everything for themselves: you can't rely on your family anymore
If this trend continues, as I think it will,
the elderly will be living out their lives alone
Go on in. Let's go, let's go, let's go!
Let's go!
So, this is the place of death, I'll work mostly here
I'll remove the floor matting and deal with this spot
The rest of you, start from there
Ok, let's get to it
A lot of time's passed
These are maggot shells, maggots hatched here
And…
I guess they started flying all over the place,
and then they all died en masse here
[Masatomi]I have the feeling I can hear the silent voices of the dead
I imagine how they lived…
what they were thinking about when they looked at this thing or the other
It's as if I'm listening to their thoughts:
when he looked at his grandson's picture
or browsed through these notes,
he used to think this or that…
Sometimes we see what they looked like in their youth…
what the world was like in their times
We try to get the relatives to collect the photographs
That way, at least they'll have 2 or 3 pictures to remember them by
[Masatomi]I want to apologise to those who died and were found late
In my thoughts, I tell them:
'I'll clean it all up, and it's going to look tidy'
[Masatomi]I've always thought cleaners shouldn't sort out dead people's things
Families should do that
And I wish, after going through all the memories, they'd say:
'Dad, Mum, thanks for bringing me into this world'
Sometimes, that's impossible for some reason
That's why our business exists
You can only fully sense the connection between yourself and the dead by sorting out their stuff
As I see it, a funeral's a physical way to say goodbye to someone,
and sorting out their things is a spiritual one
Only by putting their house in order do you realise they're really gone,
and your memories of them are all that remain
There won't be another time to think about it