Death and funeral in Japan
The majority of the Japanese profess Buddhism and believe in obligatory samsara, that is, the transmigration of the souls of the dead to one of the 6 worlds. Buddhist views and traditions thus influenced Japanese funeral rites.
He was also influenced by the traditional Japanese religion of Shintoism, which deified nature and divided everything into pure and impure. From his point of view, death was perceived as something extremely unclean. Therefore, the deceased himself must be cleansed, as well as the funeral participants after the ceremony.
Death
In Japan, the loss of loved ones is perceived as a bereavement (despite the belief that the spirit of the deceased will be incarnated in a new life). Therefore, grieving, including publicly, and even crying is considered commonplace. However, the Japanese still do not express very strong feelings in connection with the death of their loved ones due to the restraint that national cultural codes call for.
Immediately after someone in the family dies, relatives invite a Buddhist priest and a representative of the funeral agency to the house. The first must take care of the soul, the second - about the body of the deceased. But even before this, it is necessary to carry out an ancient ritual called the “posthumous sip of water” (matsugo no mizu).
To do this, all family members in turn (which is organized according to the closest relationship of each of those present) must wipe the mouth of the deceased with cotton wool wrapped around a chopstick and soaked in water. Next you need to cleanse the body. Previously, this was done by relatives, now they are most often helped by an agency representative, and sometimes relatives do not take part in the washing at all.
First, the body is washed with hot water, then wiped with alcohol or another disinfectant liquid. Cotton swabs soaked in alcohol or sake are placed in the mouth, nostrils and anus to prevent waste from leaking out (it is not customary to embalm bodies in Japan).
Clothes
deceased in different ways. Often, a traditional kimono is chosen for this - kekatabira. Previously, it was always white (that is, a mourning color) with sutras written on it. Now white is invariably used for women's and children's funeral clothing, while a man can also be buried in a black suit with a white shirt or a colored kimono.
They dress the deceased in mortal clothing according to the Sakigoto tradition - that is, in a different (namely reverse) order than the living are usually dressed. For example, buttons are fastened from bottom to top, kimonos are wrapped from right to left, etc. All this is done to separate the world of the dead from the world of the living. Leg warmers are usually put on the feet of the deceased (only with a kimono, and socks with a suit) and straw slippers. In this form, the deceased is placed in a coffin on a previously spread white linen. Women are covered with a scarf and a white blanket, and a quilted blanket is thrown over the male body, which must be turned inside out. The face of the deceased is painted and covered with a white cloth, a rosary is placed in his hands, and a cloth bag is put over his shoulder.
All these clothes and paraphernalia seem to indicate that a person is prepared for a pilgrimage to become a Buddha. By the way, in Japan, when talking about someone’s death, they use the allegory “became Buddha.” And to scare away evil spirits, a knife is placed in the coffin: at the head or on the chest.
Further, according to the unchanged Japanese custom, the place at the coffin is decorated in a special way, which is placed next to the family altar with the head facing north, and the face of the deceased should be turned towards the west. At the head of the coffin, an inverted screen and a special table are placed with incense and other incense burners, flowers, water and rice in a cup with chopsticks stuck vertically into it. Sometimes you can see rice buns on it. A painted portrait of the deceased is hung on the wall. However, the Japanese never use photographic images at funerals.
Funeral services
The Japanese take 2 days. In the evening of the 1st day, a so-called short funeral vigil is held (it lasts 3 hours), before which the deceased is given a posthumous name (kaime). This name is needed because, according to faith, the deceased becomes a disciple of the Buddha, a monk, who must now be called differently than in life. Everyone who wants to express condolences to the family comes to the first service.
At the end of it, it is customary to read telegrams of condolences and make speeches about the deceased, and then a short wake is organized. There is no meat on the table during them, but they are always treated to sweets, tea and sake. At night in modern Japan, you don’t have to be near the body. On the 2nd day, a memorial service takes place in the church before the funeral.
Funeral
in Japan it is usually prescribed on the second day after the death of a person. It is considered a good sign if a lot of people come to them. The clothes of mourners are necessarily black kimonos, dresses and suits. Those who come bring money in envelopes made of special paper with a silver pattern. They are tied with black thin ribbons.
The final farewell to the deceased takes place after the church service at the altar, after which the coffin is nailed shut (often by relatives), placed in a decorated hearse, and the funeral procession leaves for the crematorium.
Cremation
The most popular method of burial in Japan. When it is carried out, the mourners in the next room should tell each other funny and touching incidents from the life of the deceased.
After the allotted time for cremation has expired (usually it takes two to two and a half hours), crematorium employees take out the ashes on a tray, from which relatives transfer them into the urn with chopsticks.
First, they try to select the bones of the legs, then the pelvis and spine, then the arms and head. Subsequently, the urn with the ashes is embedded in a monument in the cemetery, which stands on the grave with family graves.
Japanese monuments
always made of stone and, if possible, massive and beautiful. There are no portraits on them - only names. But the shapes of stones can be very diverse, including sculptural compositions and complex memorial structures.
Remember
The Japanese usually celebrate their dead on the days of the spring and autumn equinox. This is usually March 20 or 21 and September 23 or 24.
These days, everyone who can tries to visit and put in order the ancestral graves and light candles and lanterns on them in order to illuminate the path for the souls of their ancestors in the afterlife. In some provinces, a similar holiday of the dead is celebrated in April.
I would like to start the conversation with the fact that today the overwhelming majority of residents of the Land of the Rising Sun profess Buddhism. Thus, they believe that after death, the souls of the deceased move to one of the six worlds.
We must not forget about the traditional Shintoism. According to it, all events in the world are divided into pure and unclean. Death falls into the second category, causing the deceased and everyone who will participate in the funeral ceremony to be cleansed.
After death
The loss of a loved one is considered a tragedy, even despite the Japanese belief in the immortality of the soul. Therefore, no one condemns people who violently express their emotions. Tears at funerals are taken for granted.
But first of all, the clergyman and the funeral home employee are invited to the house. And if everything is clear about the functions of the second, then the first is needed to carry out the cleansing ritual. The essence of this action is to wash the lips of the deceased using a damp cotton wool placed on a chopstick.
After the above ritual, you need to wash your entire body. Previously, this was done by members of the family of the deceased, but in recent years, the preparation of the deceased for the funeral is increasingly being undertaken by employees of the funeral agency. Events are developing in a similar way in our country. On the website grob-kupit.ru you can choose and buy a coffin today. It is again offered to order funeral services online.
What do they dress the deceased in in Japan?
There are several options for funeral attire. Most often people are buried in a white kimono. Don't be surprised, in Japan white is associated with mourning along with black. Ordinary clothing can also be used, for example, a man can be buried in a classic suit with a shirt and tie. Feet are usually put on straw slippers.
When dressing the deceased, you need to do it differently than living people do. For example, buttons on a suit are fastened from top to bottom. The point here is superstition and the desire to separate the world of the dead from the world of the living.
When the time comes to place the deceased in a coffin, he is laid with his head due north and his face turned to the west. A table with candles and flowers is placed in front of the coffin, as well as a cup of rice and a glass of water. Instead of the usual photograph with a mourning ribbon, a hand-drawn portrait is hung on the wall.
Memorial service in Japan
It is divided into two stages:
- On the evening of the day of death, a so-called funeral vigil is held. He is visited by relatives and family friends. An important stage of the ceremony is the assignment of a posthumous name (kayme) to the deceased. The Japanese believe that after death they will become Buddha's disciples, that is, monks. This is why a new name is required.
- Standard service in the temple, immediately before the funeral.
Features of funerals in Japan
Most often, funerals are held on the second day after death. A large number of people on them is considered an indicator that the person was respected during his lifetime. Those gathered dress in black clothes and bring envelopes with money that partially or even completely cover the cost of the ceremony.
Because there is very little available land in Japan, the most popular method of burial is cremation. Moreover, relatives and friends are in the next room at the moment it takes place. They tell each other various stories related to the deceased and wait for the procedure to be completed. After this, the ashes are transferred to an urn and taken home/walled up in the family crypt in the cemetery.
Remembrance Days in Japan
The deceased are remembered twice a year: in March (20/21) and in September (23/24). At this time, it is customary to visit graves and light paper lanterns there, which, according to legend, serve as guides to the afterlife.
Japanese funerals (Japanese so:gi?) include a funeral service, cremation of the deceased, burial in a family grave, and periodic memorial services. As of 2007, approximately 99.81% of deaths in Japan were cremated. Most were then buried in family graves, but in recent years scattering of ashes, burial at sea, or launching capsules containing the deceased into space has become increasingly popular. The average cost of a Japanese funeral is 2.3 million yen, which is one of the highest in the world. One of the main reasons for this high cost is the lack of space in cemeteries (especially in Tokyo). Another is the inflated prices in Japanese funeral halls, as well as the hesitation of relatives of the deceased to negotiate funeral conditions and compare prices. In recent years, more and more Japanese families are choosing to opt for more modest and less expensive funeral arrangements.
Since in Japan there is an interweaving of beliefs (see Religion in Japan), funerals usually take place according to Buddhist rites. After death, the lips of the deceased are moistened with water - this is called the Death Water ceremony (Japanese: matsugo no mizu?). The family tomb is covered with white paper to protect the deceased from unclean spirits. This is called kamidana-fuji. A small table decorated with flowers, incense and candles is placed next to the bed of the deceased. A knife may be placed on the chest of the deceased to ward off evil spirits.
Relatives and superiors are notified, and a death certificate is issued. According to custom, the eldest son takes responsibility for organizing the funeral. The temple is then contacted to determine the date of the ceremony: some believe that certain days will be more auspicious. For example, some days, which according to superstitious beliefs happen once a month, are called tomobiki (Japanese ?); these days all affairs end in failure, and funerals entail the death of someone else. The body is washed and the holes are plugged with cotton or gauze. For men, the final clothing is a suit, and for women, a kimono. Although sometimes kimonos are used for men, in general, this is not very popular. Makeup is also applied to improve the appearance. The body is then placed on dry ice - for the most practical, a coffin, a white kimono, sandals and six coins are also placed in it in order to cross the Sanzu River; Also, things that the deceased loved during life (for example, cigarettes or candy) are placed in the coffin. Next, the coffin is placed on the altar so that the head faces north or west (Buddhists mainly do this to prepare the soul for the journey to Western Paradise).
Despite the fact that in the old days it was customary to wear white clothes to funerals, now people come in black. Men wear a black suit with a white shirt and black tie, and women wear either a black dress or a black kimono. If the family of the deceased was committed to Buddhism, then guests usually bring with them prayer beads, which are called juzu (Japanese?). Guests can bring money as a sign of condolence in a special envelope decorated with silver and black flowers. Depending on the relationship with the deceased and his wealth, this amount can vary from 3,000 to 30,000 yen. Guests and relatives sit closer, and the Buddhist priest begins to read a passage from the sutra. Each family member burns incense three times before the deceased. At the same time, guests perform the same rituals in other places. As soon as the priest finishes the reading, the funeral service ends. Each invited guest gives a gift, the value of which is half or a quarter of the money he presents in the envelope. Close relatives can stay and serve the vigil overnight.
The funeral usually takes place the day after the funeral service. Incense is also lit and the priest reads the sutra. During the ceremony, the deceased is given a new Buddhist name - kaimyo (Japanese kaimyo:?). This allows you not to disturb the soul of the deceased when his real name is mentioned. The length and prestige of the name depend on the life expectancy of the deceased, but most often on the size of the donations made by the family to the temple. Thus, the names are ranked from free and cheap to rare ones that can cost a million yen or more. The high prices charged by temples are a frequent topic of debate in Japan, especially since some temples put pressure on many families to buy a more expensive name. Typically, the kanji used in these kaimyo are very old and not used in common names so few can read them. At the end of the ceremony, before the coffin is placed in a decorated hearse and taken to the crematorium, guests and relatives may place flowers on the head and shoulders of the deceased. In some regions of Japan, it is customary for the deceased's closest relative to nail the coffin shut using a stone instead of a hammer.
Currently, a person who attends a funeral is considered defiled. Before entering his house, he must sprinkle fine salt on his shoulders, and also throw some salt on the ground and step on it with his feet in order to cleanse himself both above and below, and not bring filth into the house - everyone receives a bag of this salt participant in the funeral ceremony before leaving home. When visiting a cemetery, such a ritual is not performed, since apparently no desecration occurs.
02.06.2014
Death and funeral in Japan
About 1.3 million people die each year in Japan, a figure that is gradually rising as the population ages and is expected to reach close to 2 million by 2035. With an average life expectancy of more than 80 years, the Japanese most often die, as in other developed countries, from heart disease and oncology. About 45 thousand private and public companies are involved in the field of funeral services with an annual income of about 1.5 trillion yen.
Despite the abundance of atheists and agnostics, more than 90% of funerals are conducted according to Buddhist rites with some inclusions of Shinto traditions. According to Buddhist beliefs, the soul of the deceased remains next to the body for 49 days before leaving for the next world. There is a funeral ritual that is guaranteed to provide the soul with an easy journey and protect relatives from unnecessary contacts with the other world. As in Russia, the circumstances of death, the wealth of relatives and the volume of ritual rites vary extremely; a magnificent funeral in a rich religious family and a free state burial are two different things, so the following text is a kind of generalization.
Day one: Death, preparation of the body and all-night vigil
If the death occurred at home, the doctor establishes the fact of death, determines whether there are grounds for a post-mortem examination of the body and issues a death certificate. Autopsies are relatively rare in Japan. They often resort to a so-called virtual autopsy when the cause of death is determined based on the results of a computed tomography scan. Full autopsies are performed when the circumstances of death are unclear and medical malpractice is suspected. In cases of violent death or suicide, an autopsy is not always performed, especially if the cause of death is not in doubt at first glance. The desire to preserve the body intact before cremation is associated with Buddhist beliefs, when post-mortem damage to a corpse is equated to mockery and can anger or offend the spirit of the deceased. This nuance leads to the fact that some murders in Japan are not solved, so without an autopsy it is difficult to distinguish, for example, a murder from a staged suicide. That is why in Russia all cases of violent death are subject to mandatory post-mortem examination, regardless of the opinion of relatives on this matter or the orders of the deceased himself.
Parting
Farewell room
After death, a representative of the funeral company comes to the relatives, and issues of the place and time of the funeral are resolved. A funeral director, or chief mourner, is appointed. Most often, this role is taken on by the person closest to the deceased - husband, wife, eldest son. The funeral company's employees then wash the body of the deceased, a ritual called Matsugo no mizu (Post-mortem washing). In the past, this role was performed by close people of the deceased, but now more and more often this difficult ritual is entrusted to professionals. Embalming is not usually performed. Often, large hospitals have representative offices of funeral companies that can organize farewells on the premises of the clinic.
Usually the body is laid out in the room where the family altar is located for farewell prayer. If for some reason it is not possible to place the body at home (for example, due to the small size or inappropriate appearance of the room), then it is placed in a special hall of the funeral company, also called the “Hotel for the Dead.” The home altar (if there is one) is sealed with white paper to protect the sacred place from the unclean spirit of the deceased, regardless of where the farewell is held.
Inside the room
Funeral clothing
Clothes for the deceased
Men are buried in a black suit, while the bodies of women and children are dressed in a white kyokabara kimono. The white color of all robes and many decorations is associated with Buddhist pilgrimages - this manifests the Buddhist belief that after death people become a kind of pilgrims to another world.
How to wear a kimono correctly
The sequence of putting on clothes is important, the floors are wrapped from right to left, then the backs of the hands and wrists are covered, a pair of leg warmers and straw slippers are put on the legs, a rosary is placed in the hands, a white triangular scarf is tied around the head. For men, suit buttons are buttoned from the bottom up. The body is covered with a quilt turned inside out. The place where the deceased lies is fenced off with an inverted screen. All these are elements of Sakigoto - a funeral ritual, when all actions are performed in reverse, inverted, in order to confuse the spirit of death and he could not come for any other relatives. Doing this in everyday life is a bad sign. Therefore, if you wear a kimono, pay attention to this. By the way, if you have seen the popular anime series Bleach, take a closer look at the clothes of the Shinigami gods of death.
Why you can't stick chopsticks into rice
Incense and incense are lit on a table at the head, a cup of rice is placed and chopsticks are stuck vertically into it (this is why you cannot stick chopsticks into rice in everyday life), and rice buns are laid out on a piece of white paper. The table is also decorated with burning candles, white chrysanthemums and siki - Japanese magnolias. The decoration of the deathbed is called makura kazari, literally “pillow decoration”.
The head of the deceased should be turned to the north and the face to the west. After death, the Buddha's body lay in this position. According to Japanese beliefs, the spirit of the deceased is likened to the Buddha, as it achieves enlightenment and nirvana, therefore “becoming a Buddha” is a euphemism for the word “die”. The temple holds a service for the deceased, it is called Karitsuya, which means “Temporary All-Night Vigil”.
Day two: Khontsuya
Relatives spend all day and all night near the body of the deceased, keeping candles and incense sticks burning, in prayers and without sleep, this ritual is called Khontsuya.
Parting
First, a Buddhist priest comes into the hall and reads the sutra loudly. The chief steward then performs a ritual called Shoko, burning incense to honor the spirit of the deceased. After this, everyone present, in order of blood relationship, repeats his manipulations. The deceased is given a new name - Kayme. Usually Kaime is made up of rare hieroglyphs, often already out of use. It is believed that having received a new name, the spirit of the deceased person will not be disturbed when loved ones mention his real name. It is considered bad luck to pronounce dead people aloud to Kaima. With the exception of the emperor, who is given a posthumous name at birth, it is not customary in Japan to choose a posthumous name during life.
Day Three: Funeral
Coffin
Before the funeral service, the deceased is placed in a hitsugi coffin. A piece of cotton fabric is placed at the bottom of the coffin. The absence of metal and glass objects is also checked, as they can melt or explode during cremation.
Noshibukuro for funeral
Friends and acquaintances of the deceased who gathered for the funeral offer condolences and hand over money in special envelopes. The amount varies depending on wealth and proximity to the deceased and can range from $50 to $1000. Money in envelopes is placed on a separate special table. Telegrams of condolences are read out. Speeches are heard in memory of the deceased.
Cremation (Kasou)
Urns for ashes
Although there is a small Christian diaspora in Japan, 99% of bodies are cremated. After the last farewells, the body is covered with a golden cape or covered with a coffin lid. In some areas of Japan, there is a tradition of nailing the coffin shut using a stone. Each family member of the deceased hammers a nail. If you manage to hammer a nail in one or two blows, this is a guarantee of good luck in the future. The coffin with the body is sent into the crematorium oven while the sutras are read. Complete cremation of the body of a large adult takes about one and a half hours, and of a child, about half an hour. Gathered relatives and friends await the end of the cremation in an adjacent hall, where they are served tea. They usually remember funny and interesting stories from the life of the deceased.
Transferring remains to an urn
At the end of the cremation, family members of the deceased return to the crematorium hall and receive the remains on a special tray. After that, the bones preserved after cremation are removed from the ashes using special sticks. Relatives line up in order of seniority (from the oldest to the youngest), passing chopsticks to each other, and place them in a chain in the urn. In this case, great importance is attached to the sequence, the bones are shifted from the leg bones to the head bones so that the body in the urn is not screwed down. Dropping a relative's bone is considered a very bad omen. This is the only ceremony in Japan where it is acceptable to pass something to each other with chopsticks. After all the bones have been moved to the urn, the remaining ashes are poured into it. In most other countries, in order not to embarrass a relative with the sight of charred bones, they are ground in a special industrial mixer.
Grave (Haka)
grave
Consists of a stone monument with a flower vase and a compartment for an urn with ashes (at the back of the monument). It is normal practice to separate the ashes for burial in several graves, such as family and corporate graves, or in the case of the death of a wife, the ashes may be divided between the graves of the husband's family and the woman's parents. This is done if families live far from each other and sharing the ashes will make it easier to visit the graves in the future. Since graves are often family graves, the largest text indicates not the name of the deceased, but the name of the family and the date of its construction. The names of people buried in this place are indicated in smaller print on the front surface of the monument.
In the past, it was a popular practice to make a single gravestone including the names of all living relatives in the family. The names of those who have not yet died are painted red. Nowadays such gravestones can still be found, but less and less often. People get married, get married, move abroad, radically change their lives, and graves become unnecessary or irrelevant. In addition, many Japanese these days consider it a bad sign. Also, you will never see photographs on Japanese graves; the practice of installing photographs on monuments quite surprises the Japanese who visit Russian cemeteries.
Columbarium
The extremely high cost of graves led to the emergence of multi-story columbariums, the so-called Ohaka no manshon (Burial houses). These are essentially spacious rooms divided into compact lockers (much like the beautifully decorated lockers at the gym).
Grave robbing
Despite the lack of valuables in Japanese monuments as such, the ashes of people themselves have more than once become the object of theft. So the remains of the famous Japanese writer Yukio Mishima were stolen in 1971. A similar incident occurred with the ashes of another writer Naoya Shiga in 1980. More recently, in 2002, an episode occurred when the ashes of the wife of the famous baseball player Sadaharu Ou were stolen and the kidnappers demanded a ransom for its return.
Rituals after the funeral
Funeral services take place on the seventh day after death. They involve the family of the deceased, other relatives and everyone who was close to the deceased. During the service, the priest reads the sutras aloud. The service is repeated on the fourteenth, twenty-first, twenty-eighth and thirty-fifth days. Such a service takes place only in the family circle. 49 days after death, repeated funerals take place; it is believed that on this day the soul of the deceased leaves our world. Condolences cease on the 49th day and a large Buddhist memorial ceremony is held involving family, close relatives and friends. On this day, it is customary to place an urn with ashes in the grave. Due to the presence of unburnt bones, ashes are rarely scattered in Japan.
Mourning (Fuku mou)
Mourning continues for a year, during which time family members of the deceased abstain from entertainment activities, do not attend movies or concerts, do not go to temple, and do not send New Year's cards to nengajō. Instead of postcards, notifications are sent with an apology that postcards will not be sent out; if you receive such a notification, you need to save it (more on this below). Also, women cannot register a marriage during a period of mourning; in the past, this rule was introduced to avoid doubts about the paternity of children and somehow took root and became stronger in the laws.
Memorial services on death anniversaries (Nenki hyou)
Memorial services are held on the first, second, sixth, twelfth, sixteenth, twenty-second, twenty-sixth and thirty-second anniversaries of death. In some cases, commemorations are also celebrated on the forty-ninth anniversary. If more than two services need to be served in one year for one family, they are combined. It is assumed that on the last anniversary the soul of the deceased loses its individuality and dissolves in the afterlife, so no further commemoration is held.
Festival of the Dead (Obon)
Obon Holiday
According to Japanese beliefs, during this holiday the souls of the deceased return to their homes. Obon usually takes place on August 13-16. These days, the Japanese visit their home and visit the graves of relatives and friends, even if they have lived separately from their parents for many years. On the eve of the holiday, the Japanese tidy up family altars and graves. Vegetables, fruits and other favorite dishes of the deceased and other ancestors are prepared. On the evening of the first day of the holiday, small paper lanterns are lit in front of the gate or entrance to the house, welcoming the return of the departed soul. The lights are lit again on the last day to hasten the return of souls to their new world. In some prefectures, lanterns are floated down the river on the last day of Obon. In Hiroshima, on the last day of Oobon, rivers turn into flames from the fire of hundreds of thousands of floating lanterns. Airfare prices skyrocket during Obon period, so it's worth keeping this in mind if you're visiting Japan in August.
Japanese funerals and foreigners
Funerals are for the most part a family affair and foreigners rarely take part in this sad event; usually this happens if one of the relatives in a mixed marriage dies. Occasionally, a foreigner may be invited to say goodbye to a friend or colleague.
If you most likely will not be able to attend a Japanese funeral, you can make other mistakes in everyday life that are indirectly related to the funeral. For example, when presenting gift money. All money in Japan is given in special noshibukuro envelopes, which come in different types: for gifts for birthdays, weddings, etc., including for funerals. The envelope for presenting money at a funeral is beautiful, white with silver and black ribbons. To avoid mistakes, look for a red diamond in the upper right corner of the envelope; such envelopes are given only for celebrations, but its absence will indicate an envelope for presenting money for a funeral. Dried squid was originally a rare and expensive delicacy in Japan, and a strip of squid was included in the holiday envelope. You can still find real dried squid on a gift envelope today.
If you decide to send New Year cards to nengajo, pay attention to whether anyone in your circle has sent a notice of the death of someone in the family. Even if this is some distant relative of your friend whom you have never heard of before, you cannot send nengajo, it will look as if you are mocking someone else's grief by wishing a happy new year during a period of mourning.
You should not give it to the Japanese woman you like; white chrysanthemums are traditional funeral flowers. However, in Russia, many people associate the chrysanthemum as a grave flower.
Cemeteries for foreigners
In the past, it was forbidden to bury foreigners in Japanese cemeteries (they did not particularly strive because of the Christian faith), but there were separate burial places for them. Some exist to this day, for example, one of the most famous in Yokohama (Boris Akunin wrote about it in his collection “Cemetery Stories”), one of the few Orthodox Christian cemeteries is located on the outskirts of the city of Hakodate. There are cemeteries and other concessions, but there are very few of them, so the Japanese Muslim community is very concerned about the insufficient number of cemeteries where funerals according to Muslim rites are available (i.e. without cremation); Jews living in Japan experience similar problems.
Film about Japanese funeral rites
Gone
If the topic of Japanese ritual rites interests you, I recommend watching the film Okuribito (Departed). In addition to the actual theme of funerals, the film raises the problem of the low social status of funeral agency employees in Japanese society, whose work is considered dirty. The film is available in Russian distribution on DVD, and at one time received an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
Many thanks to the author for the text and all possible help in difficult times.
Japan is a country where funerals are conducted primarily according to Buddhist rites.
Preparing for a funeral in Japan
A certificate stating that the person has passed away is issued by the local municipality, and the death of the person is reported to his supervisor and relatives. As a rule, the eldest son of the deceased is responsible for organizing and conducting funerals in Japan. It is he who agrees with the temple on what date the ceremony will be scheduled, since there are certain days when funerals cannot be held. They are called tomobiks, and it is believed that if a funeral is held on this day, another death will occur.
Body preparation
First, a traditional ceremony is held, which has already become mandatory. The so-called “water ceremony” involves moistening the lips of the deceased with water. A small table is placed next to the bed where the deceased is located, and it is decorated with incense, flowers and candles. Some Japanese place a knife on the chest of their departed relative, the purpose of which is to protect themselves from evil spirits.
The body of the deceased is given a bath, and in order to plug the natural openings on the body of the deceased, a cloth such as cotton or gauze is used.
The clothes in which a Japanese person is buried are traditional and can differ only depending on the gender of the deceased. Men are buried in a kimono or a suit, and women are buried only in a kimono. Regardless of whether it is a man or a woman, traditional makeup is applied to the deceased.
Then, the body is placed in a coffin on dry ice, sandals, a white kimono and six coins are placed near this place. The Japanese believe that these moments will help the deceased person to become angry for crossing the Sandzi River. Among other things, the coffin of the deceased often contains things that the deceased loved during his lifetime. This could be candy, tobacco products or jewelry. After this, the coffin is placed on the altar in such a way that the head of the dead must be directed to the west or north.
Farewell to the dead of Japan
In order to see off a deceased family member, relative or friend on their last journey, guests come to the farewell ceremony wearing black clothes. Women have the option of wearing a black kimono or dress, while men typically choose a black suit, which is complemented by a tie of the same color and a white shirt. In the Japanese tradition, it is customary to express condolences financially, namely in this way: in a special envelope, which was previously decorated with black and silver flowers, money is transferred to the family in which the misfortune occurred.
Everyone who has gathered for the farewell ceremony sits next to the body of the deceased, and the Buddhist priest begins to read an excerpt from the sutra. In front of the place where the body of the deceased is located, incense is smoked three times by each member of his family. Guests also take part in this ritual, but do it in their own places. The end of the reading of the sutra marks the end of the funeral process. Everyone disperses and only the closest relatives remain to serve the vigil.
Typically, in Japan, a person is buried the day after the funeral service has been held. During the ceremony, the priest begins to read the sutra, and incense is burned. The deceased is also given a new Buddhist name, which is given to him so that when his earthly name is mentioned, the soul of the deceased will not be disturbed.
The ceremony ends like this: guests lay flowers on the shoulders and head of the deceased. After this, the coffin is placed in a decorative hearse, and the body itself is delivered to the crematorium. The cremation process takes about an hour and a half, and the family of the deceased is allowed to be present during this process only at the beginning or end of the procedure.
The urn with ashes can either be immediately taken to the cemetery, or it can be left at home for a certain time.
In Japan, too, the most common form of burial is the family grave.
You can find information about all organizations providing funeral services in the cities of Belarus on the website of the Directory of Ritual Services
