was a Japanese man thought to have been Tokyo's oldest man until July 2010, when his mummified corpse was found in his bedroom. It was concluded he had likely died in November 1978, aged 79, and his family had never announced his death. Relatives had rebuffed attempts by ward officials to see Kato in preparations for Respect for the Aged Day later that year, citing many reasons from him being a "human vegetable" to becoming a Sokushinbutsu. The cause of death was not determined due to the state of Kato's body. The discovery of Kato's remains sparked a search for other missing centenarians lost due to poor record keeping by officials. A study following the discovery of Kato's remains found that police did not know if 234,354 people over the age of one hundred were still alive. Poor record keeping was to blame for many of the cases, officials admitted. One of Kato's relatives was found guilty of fraud; his relatives claimed ¥9,500,000 (US$117,939; £72,030) of pension meant for Kato. History Discovery of the body After tracking down the residence in Adachi, Tokyo, where Kato was reportedly living, attempts by officials to meet him were rebuffed numerous times by the family. Many reasons were given by his relatives, including that he was a "human vegetable" and that he was becoming a Sokushinbutsu. Eventually, Kato's body was found by police and ward officials on Wednesday, July 27, 2010, when ward officials intending to honour his achievement of longevity on Respect for the Aged Day later that year were again rebuffed and police broke into the house. Found in a first floor room, Kato's mummified remains were lying on a bed wearing underwear and pajamas and were covered with a blanket. Newspapers that were found in the room dated back three decades to the Shōwa period, suggesting that Kato's death may have occurred around November 1978. An official named Yutaka Muroi said, "His family must have known he has been dead all these years and acted as if nothing happened. It's so eerie." The day after the visit, Kato's granddaughter told an acquaintance that "my grandfather shut himself in a room on the first floor of our home 32 years ago, and we couldn't open the door from the outside. My mother said, 'Leave him in there,' and he was left as he was. I think he's dead." One official had reported