He was thought to be the oldest man in Tokyo - but when officials went to congratulate Sogen Kato on his 111th birthday, they uncovered mummified skeletal remains lying in his bed.

Mr Kato may have been dead for 30 years according to Japanese authorities.

They grew suspicious when they went to honour Mr Kato at his address in Adachi ward, but his granddaughter told them he "doesn't want to see anybody".

Police are now investigating the family on possible fraud charges.

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His family must have known he has been dead all these years... it's so eerie”

End Quote Yutaka Muroi Tokyo welfare official 'Living Buddha' Welfare officials had tried to meet Mr Kato since early this year. But when they went to visit, family members repeatedly chased them away, according to Tomoko Iwamatsu, an Adachi ward official.

Authorities grew suspicious and sought an investigation by police, who forced their way into the house on Wednesday.

They discovered a mummified body, believed to be Kato, lying in his bed, wearing underwear and pyjamas, covered with a blanket.

Mr Kato's relatives told police that he had "confined himself in his room more than 30 years ago and became a living Buddha," according to a report by Jiji Press.

But the family had received 9.5 million yen ($109,000: £70,000) in widower's pension payments via Mr Kato's bank account since his wife died six years ago, and some of the money had recently been withdrawn.

The pension fund had long been unable to contact Mr Kato.

"His family must have known he has been dead all these years and acted as if nothing happened. It's so eerie," said Yutaka Muroi, a Tokyo metropolitan welfare official

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-10809128

When i read this in the paper this morning, it actually hit my black humour funny bone.

Reminds me of the Alfred Hitchcock movie... "Psycho"

I was working in Toraja, Sulawesi, Indonesia a few years back. The local custom regarding death there is rather unusual, It's a rather strange experience when you having morning coffee with the family of the deceased.......

The funeral ceremony is an important part of the Torajan tradition, and there were many of them in December. Again, the slaughter of animals is a main part of the ceremony.

I do not mean to say that many people died during our visit. According to tradition, Torajans are not immediately buried when they die. It can take months and even years for the deceased to be buried, because their relatives have to save money for the ceremony.

""Most of the ceremonies are held between June and December to coincide with the tourist season and school holidays,"" said our tour guide, Y. Palinggi.

The funeral ceremony can cost several hundred million or even billions of rupiah.

Palinggi said a grand ritual for the dead was important because according to traditional belief the ritual, called aluk to dolo, helps the souls of the deceased become deata (deified souls), meaning the offspring will be blessed. If there is no ritual the spirit will wander about and disturb its offspring.

While waiting for the ritual to be performed, the corpses are laid out in the tongkonan and treated like living human beings: offered food and drink and spoken to.

It took more than two years for the family of Erni from Tikalla, about five kilometers north of Rantepao, to be able to afford to bury her 70-year-old mother last December.

Thanks to the use of formalin, the corpse did not decompose. In the past, spices and magic spells were used to cope with the problem of decomposition.

For the two years Erni's mother waited to be buried, the corpse was guarded by a family member who served her food and other daily needs as offerings. The relative also talked to the corpse.

Funeral rituals can last as long as one week. The culmination of the ritual is the slaughter of buffalo. The number of buffalo slaughtered indicates the social and economic status of the family, thus people slaughter as many buffaloes as possible in a bid to show off their wealth.

In Balik, for instance, the family of 115-year-old Galla slaughtered 50 buffaloes, whereas according to local regulation a noble family like them must only slaughter 24 buffaloes for the ritual.

"I think the cost for this ritual was more than Rp 1 billion, because the price of one normal sized buffalo is over Rp 10 million. They also slaughtered special buffaloes (usually white ones with black spots) which cost almost Rp 50 million each." said Anis, one of Galla's grandsons.

But not all Torajans are as rich as the Gallas. Some people have been forced to sell their belongings for a lavish funeral ceremony.