Municipalities are struggling to handle hoarder houses, or "gomi yashiki" (literally, "garbage house"), across Japan ... the Waste Management and Public Cleaning Law, and that they could not ...

One recluse and hoarder was found slumped over a bar heater with the exact cause of death unknown - but the second dead body in the home would not be discovered until a year later ...

“It was a hoarder house and we had to empty the whole thing ... A couple from Sydney’s upper north shore are the new owners. The clean-up took around two years, real estate agents said.