Photo/Illutration Isao Konno, NPO Enrich director, says an influx of younger people have signed up for his daily safety check-in service. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

"Kodokushi" (literally, "lonely death") is an expression that came into widespread use when the Japanese population began to age rapidly in the 1990s.

The term is usually used in connection with elderly people who are living alone and conscious of their mortality. But more recently, young people, too, are said to be just as prone to dreading the thought of dying alone.

What does this mean?

I interviewed Isao Konno, 64, the director of the NPO Enrich, which provides a free personal safety confirmation service through Line, a popular Japanese app for instant messaging.

"I never expected young people today to be so conscious of the fear of kodokushi," Konno said.

In the last six years, he noted, about 14,000 people ages 15 to 105 have signed up with his NPO, and about 20 percent are in their teens, 20s and 30s.

The service itself is quite simple. A message, "How are you?" is sent to every registered member at the latter's designated time and every member is expected to respond, "OK."

If there is no response after repeated tries, the NPO phones the member directly. And if the member does not pick up, the NPO calls the designated emergency contact number, which could be the number of an immediate family member or close relative.

In most cases, the absence of response is the result of nothing more than the member's failure to return the call. However, Konno said that there have been about 10 members who did not respond and were discovered shortly after they had passed from an illness or committing suicide.

The NPO had a sudden influx of young members four years ago. The most notable reason, according to Konno, was that they were "afraid of dying alone from COVID" and that the only contacts they had with their friends were "through social media."

More recently, Konno went on, many people have signed up because they were worried about dying alone and leaving their cats behind.

"They seek comfort in their pets and derive peace of mind from the safety confirmation service on their smartphone, just in case. I suppose this is the sort of era we are living in," Konno observed.

There are no national statistics on kodokushi. However, 272 people ranging from their teens to their 30s living alone in Tokyo's 23 wards died at home in 2020, according to the Tokyo Medical Examiner's Office.

Perhaps the COVID-19 pandemic intensified the reality of loneliness and death. The "OK" response on the smartphone looks like a cry for help.

 —The Asahi Shimbun, Aug. 22

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Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.