Cremation in Japan
[12] The cremation of Empress Jito in 700 BC began an aristocratic tradition which remained generally unbroken until the full-body burial of Emperor Gokomyo in 1654.
[2] The cost of firewood largely limited cremation to the nobility[13] until the Kamakura period (1185–1333), when it spread to the common people.
[1] During the Edo/Tokugawa period (1603–1868), in modern-day Akita prefecture, each household in a certain village would contribute two bundles of straw towards the cremation of a recently deceased member of the community.
[14] The notion of cremation as the greatest sin against filial piety originated in China, where it was used as a punishment, during the Song dynasty (960–1279).
[11] Meiji officials continually stressed that cremation was a foreign, Indian practice, brought to Japan via Buddhism.
[1] In 1873, Tokyo police relocated crematoria beyond city limits, citing the smell as detrimental to public health.
[2] Shinto leaders argued that to approve the relocation of crematoria was to implicitly condone cremation, leading the Meiji government to completely ban the practice on 18 July 1873.
[3] Advocates argued that cremation was not unfilial as the compactness of the resulting ashes made it easier for people to fulfil the filial task of interring family members together in ancestral graves.
The Council of State decided to ban full-body burial within Tokyo city limits, making no exception for those wishing to be buried in ancestral graves, even those on temple or personal property.
In 1880, German cremationists requested to view plans of another crematory modernised with ventilation systems and a lime filter.
[14] From the 1920s, firewood was gradually replaced with fossil fuels which produced less smoke and odours, allowing cremation to happen during the daytime.
[20] A shortage in crematoria as Japan's population ages means that families can wait up to 4 days[21] before the deceased can be cremated.
[20] In the aftermath of the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011, the bodies of 2,000 victims were temporarily buried due to fuel shortages in the affected area.
It is less common in rural areas and in the Okinawan archipelago where the bones of the decomposed body are exhumed, washed, and reburied (senkotsu).
[23] Since the 1990s, there has been the option to pulverise all remains to a fine powder and incorporate them into temoto kuyohin, or 'close-at-hand funerary items' such as memorial diamonds, crystals and ceramics.
[20] In 2012, Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko stated that they wish to be cremated[22] due to concerns over limited space in the imperial graveyard.
Igniting the flower or furnace marks the chief mourner's relationship to the deceased as their primary heir and caretaker.
[16] Transferring the ashes into a cinerary urn is traditionally done in male/female pairs[28] as a precaution against the contaminating nature of death, and against accidentally dropping the bones.
[27] During the Heian period, the cremation site was marked by a 6 foot tall fence, made of cypress bark or bamboo.
[5] At Emperor Go-Ichigo's cremation in 1036, and that of other royals and aristocrats around this time, a second fenced area was built within the first, increasing the religious and imperial sanctity of the inner space.
Commonly cremated objects include traditional Japanese tools such as needles, writing brushes, tea whisks, and paper umbrellas.
