Tuesday, May 25, 2004



Death in Japan.

I tried not to think about this too much when Alisha died but I have been now. I have done a few question and answer classes with my students and this is what I have come up with.

Basically it is an open casket funeral held in the house of the family where the person died. Sometimes it is not in a casket but on the person's futon.

There is a bowl of rice placed near the body with chopsticks in it. Now my student was not sure if it was one chopstick or two but they are stuck into the rice in an upright position.
One of the first things you learn when you come to Japan is to never stick your chopsticks into your rice bowl in this manner. It is considered bad luck and some people consider it to be rude.
There are always candles and incense burning all around.
Most homes have a small Shinto or Buddhist type alter in a small recess of their living room. At this alter a metal bowl is placed for tapping on to create a bell sound. This is done when people are praying.
Everyone in Japan is cremated and there are large family tombs at all of the temples and jinjas all over Japan. There are also a few community style ones in the Tokyo area. The tiny area of land to buy a tomb can cost more than your house. It is a family life time investment.
In Tokyo there is also a Foreigners only burial area. I brought this up with my student one day a long time ago and he said it was because foreigners what to be buried in their own area. I gave him a pretty skeptical look. Having lived here for a while I am pretty sure it was because no one wanted a foreigner near their ancestors. There ancestors were churning up their ashes thinking about it.
There is also a single woman's only giant tomb hill in Tokyo now. Single women started complaining because they were not able to buy tomb spaces at the local temples and jinjas. The basic assessment of the paper article was because these places relay on ancestor and descendant money in the years to come. Single women have no ancestors, so they believe. So the authorities created this huge communal one.

Anyway.
The way it works in Japan the family and friends all gather together 2 days after death, then 7 and then 49 days after death. After that gathering happens on the one year, two year, three year, five year, seven year and ten year anniversary of their death. I think that it continues to over 30 years for the devout family. Every time requires paying priests and bringing everyone out to dinner.
Interesting tradition but a little expensive.
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