Governing through kodokushi. Japan’s lonely deaths and their impact on community self-government

Abstract

ABSTRACTAs more and more older persons in Japan are living in one-person-households, the number of unaccompanied and undetected deaths has risen as well. These so-called “lonely deaths” (kodokushi) have been problematized in various contexts over the last decades. Popular mass media reports interpret the growing number of kodokushi as a sign of the demise of traditional values, while academic publications interlink the issue with broader societal challenges such as social isolation, poverty, or social exclusion. This article traces how kodokushi developed from a rare event at the margins of society into a buzzword in the center of public attention. It discusses how the contemporary discourse constructs kodokushi as a “bad death” and how this negative image is utilized as an incentive to construct efficient local welfare networks. In this regard, the article introduces the example of a local initiative that tries to reduce the number of lonely deaths through raising the residents’ awareness of the issue and through re-activating neighborhood life. By doing this, it promotes a certain set of values and rules, therefore not only governing the residents’ deaths, but also attempting to positively influence their lifestyles. The article reveals the effects and practical problems of this strategy.