Vehiclesare crushed by acollapsedwall at a carpark in Mitocity inIbaraki prefecture on March11, 2011 aftera massiveearthquakerockedJapan. (JIJIPRESS/AFP/Getty Images)
Mr Kato's relatives told police that he had "confined himself in his room more than 30 years ago and became a living Buddha, " according to a report by JijiPress.
"I heard after a while on the public address system that a fire had occurred inside the tunnel and the sprinkler system was going to be activated, " he told JijiPress.