Abstract: In 2010, when “MUEN death” broke out in Japan, the Japanese academics almost regarded the essential problem of it as disintegration of the traditional community. Admittedly, since 1980s, Japanese single and solitude population has increased. It seems that the conclusion made by the Japanese scholars is absolutely right. However, an indepth analysis of the data will reveal that the Japanese singles do not originate from divorce, but from being unmarried. If the establishment of a marriage relationship means the rebirth of the family community, then being unmarried does not mean the disintegration of the family community, but that the family community is not reborn. In addition to blood ties, the Japanese traditional community based on geographical and industrial ties also exposes the problems it faces because of the phenomenon of “MUEN death”, but whether it can be called disintegration needs to be reconsidered. Disintegration or regeneration? Through analysis of Japanese official data, this paper finds that the fundamental problem reflected in the phenomenon of “MUEN death” in Japan is not the disintegration of the traditional community, but the dilemma of community regeneration.

Key words: community, “MUEN death”, disintegration, rebirth, autophagy