Death in Japan
What happens when we are gone?
How did the Japanese commemorate the deceased?
A traditional funeral happened on the same day as the wake, when the service begins the deceased receive a new Buddhist name written in Kanji. This is said to prevent the return of the spirit if their name is called. At the end of the ceremony the family and friends place flowers on the coffin before it is nailed shut and taken to the cremation room.
Letting go.
In a cremation ceremony the family watches the sliding of the body into the cremation chamber. The family then comes back two hours latter and performs a bone picking ceremony, this is when all of the relatives come together and remove the bigger pieces of bone from the ashes with metal chopsticks. They do this to say goodbye to the deceased spirit.
The Japanese graves are usually by their family members. The name of the deceased is carved onto the front of the stone. If the person died before his/her spouse, the name of their partner may also be engraved on the stone, painted in red letters. This is done because when the spouse passes away they can remove the paint, but the carved letters remain.
You?
So my questions is, after hearing about the Japanese people, what's going to happen to you when you're gone?
Ashley Cowger