Die unnoticed and in two months all that is left is the stench, a rotting corpse and maggots.
And this is not a war zone or even an episode of "CSI." As Japan's population rapidly ages and more seniors find themselves living on their own, many are also dying alone, victims of "kodokushi" (lonely death) who only get noticed well after the fact.
Kodokushi has neither an official definition nor data, but just in Tokyo, people over 65 who died alone in their residence, including by suicide, stood at 2,211 in 2008, compared with 1,364 in 2002, according to the Tokyo Medical Examiner's Office.
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