Those who clean what nobody wants to see
In September Japan offered a revealing and more terrible fact than the number of elderly who died alone in the nation: what They took to find them. In the first six months of the year they had 28,330 solitary deaths, but according to the police, the authorities took two weeks or more to discover the deaths in even 5,000 elders, 17.3%. The figure clearly reveals the crisis that the country suffers, a problem of such dimensions that has even emerged by its side an unpublished industry: the services that clean the Footprints of loneliness. The phenomenon and its “cleaning.” In Japan, the phenomenon of Kodokushimostly old people who They die alone And they go unnoticed for weeks or months, it has become A tragic expression of the accelerated aging and the weakening of community ties. Only in this way is the appearance of a Unpublished industry of cleaning equipment such as Japan Association of Memento Organization (Jamo), who are dedicated to cleaning the scenes of these deaths, facing not only to unhealthy conditionsbut also to the emotional desolation of erasing the last traces of forgotten lives. Workers, protected with costumes, gloves and masks, enter housing where the smell of decomposition and accumulation of objects reflect stories of isolation and abandonment. Booming industry. The increase in these cases has given rise to A CLEANING SECTOR specialized that, beyond their technical work, faces daily the Raw lonely death. Many of these cleaners agree that their work forces them to question the relationship of Japanese society with lOld age, death and loneliness. Had a wide Report the Japan Times that with a population that ages rapid A structural problem. Homes trapped in garbage. Months ago, JT reported a problem that is now reflected in this type of incipient industry: the growing crisis of Compulsive accumulators In Japan, a reality that mainly affects older people trapped between loneliness, social pressure and institutional abandonment. In cities with small spaces and strenuous working hours, many citizens accumulate objects and garbage to very dangerous levels, turning their homes into unhealthy and chaotic scenarios. The report spoke of cases such as Hana Fujiwarawho lost its pension notebook between mountains of waste, and that illustrate how this phenomenon goes beyond a simple disorganization and reflects a deep emotional and social destructuring. The case of Hirokai. Washington Post told An example of this new industry. The scene was heartbreaking: a stained futon, flies and worms scattered throughout the room, papers glued to the ground by body fluids and a housing full of garbage. Thus they found Hiroaki, a 54 -year -old man who, after months of having died without being discovered, went to swell the kodakushi list in Japan. The Next team, another of these companies specialized in cleaning scenarios of solitary deaths, was responsible for cleaning up the small house, without disgusting gestures or drama, aware that this is already A usual routine In the country. The case of Kenji Kono. The medium Time also analyzed The incipient industry through the history of Kono, a 65 -year -old man found dead by heat blow months after death only in his Osaka apartment. His body was discovered by the smell that alerted the neighbors, and after the intervention of the police, it was the company Kansai Clean Service in charge of cleaning the scene. Its professionals, led by Noriyuki Kamesawa, have the mission of completely restoring the spaces where these deaths occur, eliminating odors, spots and, in essence, any physical trace of the deceased. Its prices range between 200,000 and 800,000 yuan, and the service includes from deep cleaning to sometimes remove soils and coatings. In many cases, families prefer to never enter these rooms, totally delegating emotional and material work to these companies. Normalize abandonment. He Post related also that kodokushi cases have even generated the creation of Insurance for owners that cover the cleaning costs and losses due to unpaid income when a tenant dies alone. Hiroaki, despite having worked for decades in large companies, ended without personal networks, leaving behind an apartment saturated with memories and garbage, but without clear footprints of affection or significant links. Structural factors He population agingthe lack of solid family networks and The associated stigma To ask for help are factors that feed this problem. Many people accumulate objects not only by habit, but as a mechanism of defense against loneliness or emotional insecurity. Although Japan is known for its order and cleanliness, behind these closed doors a reality is hidden where elders live isolated between mountainsunable to break the cycle by shame or fear of being judged. The difficulty of intervening. The affected homes are usually Outside the radar of social services Until an emergency occurs Or, in the worst case, another kodokushi. These types of households complicate medical care, increase fire risk and They hinder coexistence in aged neighborhoods. Specialized cleaning companies and social services face enormous challenges when trying to intervene, since they must deal with not only with physical disorder but also with the psychological deterioration of those affected. Artifacts of a life. Here we return to the unpublished function of companies such as Jamo. In each intervention, the teams find personal objects (photographs, daily, memories) that show that these people were once an active part of society, but ended up isolated. His work exposes, not only the physical dimension of these deaths, but also the emotional: The memories that no one will claim and the lives that end without witnesses or farewells. Between taboo and dehumanization. It is the last of the stigma legs. The loneliness that leads to Kodokushi is aggravated by cultural reticence to talk about death. Many relatives and neighbors even choose to ignore signs or not intervene, partly out of respect, but also for discomfort or ignorance. Meanwhile, this lonely death cleaning industry becomes increasingly necessary, filling the void that society has left in the care of its elders. A latent crisis. The growing visibility of this phenomenon has begun to generate … Read more
