EDIT: Thanks a bunch for thinking along. The answer to the question was kindly provided for by a fellow user, so I consider the matter closed : )
So… that's a question that requires some context.
Years ago, Nintendo released under license from Enix and made by Quintet, the game Terranigma. It's considered by some Quintet's swan song, because not long after the company disbanded. The game never really took on, as the Nintendo 64 not long after came out and because it was never released in north America.
Yet there is a loyal fanbase and some attempts have been made for a re-release, attempts that stranded because the parties involved can't get a hold on the game's creator, Tomoyoshi Miyazaki, has has gone 'missing'. There is but a single source to back up this claim, at least in script I can read. So it's entirely unclear whether he has *actually* gone missing, or that he, instead, retreated from the gaming world, or society.
People do have the right not to be found.
But this raises the question. In Europe and north America, people can be declared dead if they've gone missing for a specific amount of time, after which their possessions are inherited by their legal heirs. This includes the coyrights the deceased held.
Assuming that Japanese law works similarly, this raised the question: how long do you have to be missing before you can be declared dead in Japanese law?
by eimur