

Japan: 'Lonely Deaths' Rise Among Unemployed, Elderly - limist
http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20100406/wl_time/08599197695200

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miles
FTA: _Several hundred years ago, the Japanese witnessed death regularly, with
bodies buried by family members and samurai displaying severed heads in
public. These days, such moments are rare._

Indeed, it is a crying shame that displaying severed heads in public has
become so rare. Seriously though, can't Time magazine do a slightly better job
editing?

~~~
patio11
_with bodies buried by family members_

Dealing with death is considered unclean in Shinto and many of the various
traditions it was synthesized out of, which is why only Japan's untouchable
caste (burakumin 部落民) did gravedigging, and one reason why they were
ostracized. It has been, ahem, _a very long time indeed_ since burying one's
family members would be considered normative behavior.

For more on this and other interesting topics, see your favorite Japanese
Civilization 101 textbook.

~~~
ximeng
Before reading the textbook, maybe watch "Departures", the film mentioned in
the article. I'd wager most people will find it to be easier going and more
moving. Half the cinema was sniffling by the end when I saw it.

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Departures_%28film%29>

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dmlorenzetti
This is not just in Japan. During heat waves, as observed for example in
France (<http://www.questia.com/googleScholar.qst?docId=5006569197>) and
Chicago ([http://www.amazon.com/Heat-Wave-Autopsy-Disaster-
Illinois/dp...](http://www.amazon.com/Heat-Wave-Autopsy-Disaster-
Illinois/dp/0226443221)), death tends to strike the socially isolated.

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ww520
Since there are so many system monitors built, can we build something of a
human monitor? A device that can detect motion like the IPhone/IPod/IPad. Once
it's not moved for a long time, like a day (allowance for sleep), it would
transmit a signal to a center and someone can call back in to check. It can be
worn around the neck.

~~~
chime
In the US, they sell something called <http://www.lifealert.com/> (very scammy
late-night commercials) but I wonder why there couldn't be a free/cheap
version of this. Kindle sells for $260 and has free life-time downloading via
3G. So it is possible to make devices that do not have monthly/annual fees
that can hit a URL every now and then.

