“The Loneliness of People Who Can’t Clean Up” — “Kansai’s No. 1 Specialized Cleaning Company” — The CEO, Who Is Also a Buddhist Monk, Speaks

People Living in Hoarder Homes

“About seven years ago, I visited a 45-story high-rise apartment building in Osaka Prefecture. The client was a man in his mid-40s. He had previously worked as a real estate salesman and was an elite professional who earned an annual income of 30 million yen at the age of 26.His apartment was a three-bedroom unit on the 28th floor—more than spacious enough for a single person—but when I stepped inside, every room was packed to the ceiling with garbage bags. Rotten food had fallen on the floor, attracting cockroaches, and even pigeons, mistaking the trash for food, had flown into the apartment.”

These are the words of Noriyuki Kamezawa (45), president of “Kansai Clean Service,” a specialized cleaning company in Osaka City. “Trash houses”—which often lead to disputes with neighbors due to foul odors and pest infestations—have now become a social issue.The number of reported cases over the past five years (2020–2024) has exceeded 6,000.Mr. Kamezawa’s company deals with such “trash houses” on a daily basis. While general specialized cleaning typically involves handling scenes of solitary deaths, his company also takes on the cleanup of trash houses that residents are unable to manage on their own.

Mr. Kamezawa founded “Kansai Clean Service” in 2007. While tackling the cleanup of countless hoarder homes and properties where accidents occurred, he decided in 2021 that he also wanted to “care for the hearts of the bereaved” and took monastic vows, becoming a priest in the Shingon sect.Today, he stands out in the industry by performing Buddhist rituals, such as chanting sutras, as part of his specialized cleaning services. According to Mr. Kamezawa, poverty and social isolation are often the underlying causes of hoarding situations. We spoke with Mr. Kamezawa about the reality of hoarding homes spreading across the country and the “loneliness of people who cannot clean up.”

In the fridge were beef tongue and Manjaro

“It may come as a surprise, but it’s not uncommon for people living in hoarder homes to have high incomes. A prime example was the resident of the high-rise apartment building mentioned earlier. This man reportedly developed depression after experiencing interpersonal conflicts at work. Even after resigning, he didn’t look for a new job and lived off his savings. Gradually, he began to say, ‘I hate seeing people,’ and apparently couldn’t even bring himself to take out the trash anymore.He relied on online shopping and food delivery for his daily groceries and meals. It seems his home turned into a hoarder’s house after he continued this lifestyle for three years.”

Mr. Kamezawa says many of his clients are women who work in the nightlife industry. One such woman works at a hostess club in Kitashinchi, a bustling entertainment district in Osaka.

“Her one-bedroom apartment in downtown Osaka was littered with luxury brand bags and clothing, as well as food that had expired and gone rotten. The refrigerator was filled with beef tongue—a gift received through the ‘Hometown Tax’ program—and Manjaro (a diabetes medication sometimes used as a weight-loss substitute).”

This woman reportedly began working in the nightlife industry as a side job while working as an acupuncturist since she was 20.

“In that line of work, you often receive gifts like snacks from clients, right? When I visited her apartment, those gifts were piled up, still unopened. Apparently, when she was around 22, she became pregnant through what’s known as ‘sugar dating,’ but since she didn’t know who the father was, she had an abortion.”

Living with a Corpse

Mr. Kamezawa has dealt with more than just hoarder homes. He has also undertaken numerous cleanups of properties after the residents have passed away. One such case was a scene of a body abandonment in Higashiosaka City that he handled in June ’23.

“The property was a room in an old apartment building over 50 years old, where a father in his 80s and his son in his 50s had been living together at the time.It seems they both worked in waste paper collection. However, one day, the father stopped being seen around the neighborhood, and a foul odor began to waft from the apartment. The owner, finding this suspicious, confronted the son, and it was discovered that the father had died.
Upon entering the room, in addition to trash, a large number of Fabreze bottles caught my eye. It seems they had been spraying Fabreze on the body to mask the smell of decomposition. Rags and tissues had also been stuffed into the deceased’s ears and mouth—presumably to contain the bodily fluids and maggots oozing from the body.”

Why didn’t the son report his father’s death and why did he continue living with the body?

“The paper recycling job was essentially day labor, and it was the father’s pension income that supported the two of them. However, if it became known that the father had died, the pension payments would stop, and they would no longer be able to make ends meet. As a result, he continued to hide his father’s body.It appears the son was using the pension money to fund his hobby of keeping insects; there were over 100 insect cages in the room. Inside the cages were expensive insects, such as giant stag beetles, worth tens of thousands of yen each, but they were all dead by the time the room was cleaned. This son was later arrested on suspicion of abandoning a corpse.”

Mr. Kamezawa concludes by sounding this warning:

“Anyone can end up living in a hoarder’s home due to some trigger, such as interpersonal conflicts or the death of a family member. Some people, thinking, ‘I don’t want anyone to know my home is a hoarder’s home,’ refrain from seeking help from local authorities or professional cleaners, and end up dying alone. It’s just that these cases aren’t reported in the media; the number of hoarder homes and cases of solitary death is far greater than the general public realizes.”

From the June 26–July 3, 2026, combined issue of *FRIDAY*