Justin McCurry “Record 12,208 people with dementia reported missing in Japan” https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jun/16/record-12208-people-with-dementia-reported-missing-in-japan
警察庁の発表。2015年に行方不明届が出された認知症者の数は、2014年よりも急激に増えて、５桁に達した；
日本における「認知症」の概況；
A record number of Japanese people with dementia went missing last year, according to figures released on Thursday, underlining the country’s battle to care for the rapidly increasing number of people who have the condition.The national police agency said 12,208 people with dementia were reported missing in 2015 – an increase of 1,452 from the previous year. Most had wandered off and were found within a day to a week, but 479 were found dead and 150 have yet to be located, according to Kyodo News.
The disorder affects 4.6 million people in Japan, with the number forecast to rise to 7 million – or one in five people aged 65 or over – by 2025.Under its “orange plan” announced last year, the government is to spend 22.5bn yen (£152.3m) this year to train more specialists, improve early diagnosis and expand community-based care to relieve the pressure on family members who have to give up work to become carers.
In a recent survey 40% of families looking after relatives said they could not continue to provide home-based care, while 70% said their responsibilities had become a burden*1.
An estimated 100,000 people leave their jobs every year to look after elderly relatives, including those who suffer from dementia – a figure the prime minister, Shinzo Abe, has vowed to cut to zero by 2025, when Japan’s baby boomers will be aged 75 or older.
The potential dangers of people with dementia straying from home were highlighted earlier this year in a landmark case that campaigners hailed as a breakthrough in the law’s attitude towards sufferers.
In March, the supreme court overturned an earlier ruling that had ordered the family of a 91-year-old man with dementia to pay 3.6m yen in compensation to a railway operator after he wandered from home and was killed by a train, causing widespread disruption to rail services.
The supreme court sided with the man’s family, who had spoken of the difficulty of monitoring him around the clock*2.
「認知症」者の「行方不明」（失踪）についてはhttp://d.hatena.ne.jp/sumita-m/20160530/1464571057も。
さて、『朝日新聞』の記事；
どのような経緯で「行方不明」になり、20年近くも何処で何をしていたのか。
特定失踪者の男性を発見 福井県警「拉致の可能性ない」2016年6月16日19時25分
福井県警は１６日、北朝鮮による拉致の疑いが否定できないとされる特定失踪者で福井県若狭町の宮内和也さん（５１）＝失踪当時３２＝が国内で見つかったと発表した。本人の話などから、県警は「拉致の可能性はない」と判断したという。宮内さんは１９９７年４月２４日、福井県三方町（現・若狭町）で行方不明に。２００３年、民間団体「特定失踪者問題調査会」が公表した失踪者リストに宮内さんが含まれていた。県警の捜査員が今月上旬、県外で見つけて保護し、家族が面会して本人と確認した。事件や事故に巻き込まれてはいなかったという。
http://www.asahi.com/articles/ASJ6J5S3SJ6JPGJB00V.html
*1:See “40% of households with dementia patients say ongoing home care difficult: survey” http://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20160101/p2a/00m/0na/011000c
*2:See Shusuke Murai “Japan’s Supreme Court dismisses liability of family in death of man with dementia” http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/03/01/national/crime-legal/japans-supreme-court-dismisses-liability-family-death-man-dementia/#.V2KuyjWotdi
