Japanese funeral

The majority of funerals (葬儀, sōgi or 葬式, sōshiki) in Japan include a wake, the cremation of the deceased, a burial in a family grave, and a periodic memorial service.

[1] Other practices in Japan include Shinto funerals and the Ryukyuan people’s indigenous sepultural culture.

When a death occurs, the shrine is closed and covered with white paper to keep out the impure spirits of the dead, a custom called kamidana-fūji (神棚封じ).

Funeral arrangements typically are made by the eldest son and are begun by contacting a temple to schedule the event.

If the deceased was an adherent to Buddhism, a set of prayer beads called juzu (数珠) may be carried by the guests.

The ceremony differs slightly as the deceased receives a new Buddhist name (戒名, kaimyō; lit.

[7] The word nodobotoke in a living person, however, refers to the visible Adam's apple, which is a different organ.

Depending upon the local custom, the urn may stay at the family home for a period or may be directly taken to the graveyard.

The date of the erection of the grave and the name of the person who purchased it may be engraved on the side of the monument.

The names of the deceased may also be engraved on the left side, or on a separate stone in front of the grave.

Some of these may even include a touch screen showing a picture of the deceased, messages, a family tree, and other information.

[citation needed] There are a number of cases where the ashes of deceased persons have been stolen from graves.

The ashes of famous cartoonist Machiko Hasegawa and of the wife of real estate chairman Takichi Hayasaka were stolen for ransom.

In many traditions, the urn containing the ashes is interred in a ceremony called nōkotsu (納骨) on the 49th day, and the family stays in mourning until this.

The average cost of a Japanese funeral is about 2.31 million yen (US$25,000) according to a 2008 study by the Japan Consumers Association.

Funeral Business Monthly estimates that there will be 1.7 million deaths by 2035, and revenue of 2 trillion yen in 2040.

These offer funerals starting at about 200,000 yen, a fraction of the regular overpriced services, and lists the different options and prices to choose from a la carte.

The oldest known burial chamber was built between 220 and 230 CE[13] in Sakurai, Nara Prefecture, and called the Hokenoyama tomb.

It is now believed that burial mounds of Korea built in the 5th and 6th centuries may have been influenced by the kofun of Japan.

[14] There are numerous burial mounds within the geographical range of ancient Yamato-culture, most of which have keyhole-shaped outlines and which measure up to 400 m. The largest is the tomb of Emperor Nintoku in Sakai near Osaka, with a length of 486 m. and covering an area of 300,000 square meters.

The use of burial mounds is believed to have gradually stopped either with the introduction of Buddhism in Japan in the sixth century AD or with the establishment of the capital in Nara by Empress Genmei in 710.

[15] One early example of this is the Regent Hōjō Tokimune, who received monastic funeral rites in 1284 at the hands of Chinese monk Wuxue Zuyan.

[16] Zen historian Martin Collcutt asserts that “one means by which Zen monks extended their influence in society was by the conduct of funeral services for important patrons.”[17] By the medieval Sōtō period, only a small percentage of the funeral sermons recorded were delivered for members of the monastic order.

Although Dōgen was the first to implement many aspects of Chinese Chan monastic codes in Japan, his gogoku doesn't contain any funeral sermons.

[19] At this point in Japanese history, different schools of Zen were in competition for followers, and they were “more conscious than ever before of the necessity of making available to the laity such rites as funeral services and ancestor worship.”[20] Keizan's inclusive attitudes toward funerals resulted in the building of many temples in rural areas and the gradual expansion of the Sōtō order throughout Japan.

[24] Since the popularization of Sōtō Zen in medieval Japan, Sōtō Zen funeral practices have been a significant point of contact between the monks and laity, and continue to play an important role in lay religious life today.

[25] In a break of tradition from the early Edo period to align with modernity, it has been decided that Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko will be cremated after their death instead of ritual burials.