I live in central Tokyo, and very close to my apartment is a house where an old lady lives. I’ve never talked to her, but noticed her because she is a hoarder and just stands out. I pass by her place quite often. Today I passed it twice, and there is this unbearable stench that reminds me of death. Idk if I should report this to the police and ask for a wellness check. Any advice would be appreciated.
Update: just came back from the local koban, unfortunately I came home a little late tonight. Apparently there has been an accident so they couldn’t follow me to show them the place, but I explained the exact location using the maps to the best of my abilities. The cop was a nice older guy, and said he will check it out early in the morning and might call me to help find it if need be, or if there is need for more info. Let’s see how this goes.
Update 2: got a call from the policeman. They did a wellness check and she’s alive and well. Thank god. I’m guessing an animal might have died or something.
24 comments
Oof that’s creepy af
It wouldn’t hurt to call the police. I did once after smelling something gross near a shitty hoarder’s den and I saw the police looking around later but never heard anything back. Smell went away though.
The smell of death is unmistakable. Contact the police. They’ll check it out and know the relevant authorities to call.
Call the police right now. I had the same thing a long time ago, living in a shitty building in Shizuoka. It was July and wow, the stench was incredible. 5-O showed up and thanked me after opening the place.
I don’t know, I often walk past places with absolutely horrendous smells and there cant be someone dead on every other street. But still cant hurt to check.
Jesus, yes call the police.
Anytime you think something is seriously amiss with an elderly person who lives alone you should report it.
Why would you be unsure about this? Smells like someone died – just report it – let the police do their job
Go to your local Koban, that’s exactly their job, making sure everyone’s OK.
I once lived next to this young couple who were constantly fighting. One weekend, the guy told us that he and his girl were going away for the weekend. But the next day,there was this incredible stench coming from their apartment. My wife and I thought he’d killed his girlfriend. We waited, though, till Monday to see if they were coming back or if we should notify the police. But on Monday they both came to our door and apologized for the smell. Their lizard has died while they were gone. But wow, that was the most terrible smell we’ve ever experienced.
It can’t hurt. Nobody’s going to be mad at you for caring about your neighbors and your neighborhood. Even if it turns out to be nothing, it’s the right thing to do.
If it smells like death report it. We had our next door neighbor die and could smell it through the walls. Took a few phone calls to the apartment company, but they sent someone to check finally and little later that day the police came to confirm our suspicions.
First, I hope your neighbor is alright.
Second though, the more Japan ages the more prevalent these occurrences will become. Not just Japan either, but all of East Asia and possibly Europe.
Neighbors suddenly passing away can happen in any country, but the proportion will be a lot higher. I’m not sure what that will do to Japan psychologically. Interesting times are ahead.
If you notice something, say something.
It’s only a one phone call of exactly what you told us “Sumimasen, I’m experiencing an unbearable smell from this home. Please come check on it. There is an old lady who lives there usually.”
She’s alive? Great! They can now take care of whatever smell. Sooner the better.
If you report it to the police they may question you about her death, perhaps for quite some time. That happened to my wife’s (at the time) 80yo grandmother when she reported the death of a neighbor.
Yup – Just call the coppers or stop by a local police booth and tell them exactly what you posted here.
LPT: Google maps can drop a pin to get the lat/long of a location if you don’t know their address
Looking forward to your update tomorrow.
Do it before the smell creeps into your place..
Thanks for checking in on her, most people would probably ignore it
>got a call from the policeman. They did a wellness check and she’s alive and well. Thank god. I’m guessing an animal might have died or something.
I’m both relieved and happy you updated us.
Always best to call and check with police, had this happen in an apartment I lived in the past. Upstairs neighbor drank himself to death. The smell on a windy summer day was horrible.
Is it not the smell of a ginko tree? Smells like a mix of death and ball sweat
I live in a complex with a lot of elderly people. Back in December police had to do a wellness check on someone in the apartment below me. A few weeks later workers were completely cleaning out the appartement. I don’t know what happened to the person. In your case the lady was ok but it’s better to be safe than sorry