'Funeral...expensive': Japanese man hides father's corpse in wardrobe for years
What's the story
A 56-year-old man in Japan, Nobuhiko Suzuki, has been arrested for allegedly hiding his father's death. The case was discovered when Suzuki, who owns a local Chinese restaurant, didn't open his business for a week. Worried neighbors then notified the police. During a welfare check at Suzuki's house, authorities found the skeletal remains of his 86-year-old father in a wardrobe.
Justification
Suzuki's justification and the ongoing investigation
Suzuki reportedly told authorities that he had hidden his father's body because a funeral was too expensive. The circumstances of his father's death are still being investigated. "The funeral was expensive," he allegedly said when asked about his actions. Suzuki claimed he found his father dead when he came home one day but didn't say when or why he hid the body for so long.
Funeral costs
Average funeral costs in Japan around 1.3 million yen
According to a poll conducted by Japanese funeral service provider San Holdings Inc., the average funeral expense in Japan after the COVID-19 outbreak was approximately 1.3 million yen (US$8,900). In 2023, a 56-year-old unemployed man was also sued for concealing his 72-year-old mother's body and embezzling around two million yen from her pensions. He admitted in court that he concealed his mother's body to avoid burial costs and continue claiming her pensions—his only source of income.