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FUNERALS

RELIGION TRADITION Buddhism

Japanese funeral services are held in a Buddhist way. On the funeral day the body is cremated. The guests are taking a first meal during that time in the crematorium. After the body is burned, the bones are picked out of the ash by the relatives and given from person to person by chopsticks. Afterwards, the actual funeral ceremony is held by Buddhist monks. The ceremony contains many Buddhist rituals. Many guests are present at this ceremony, and each of them will pay about $200 to the relatives and receive a small gift for it. At last, another meal is held. The urn is put on an altar at the family's house and kept there for 35 days. Incense sticks (osenko) are burned there around the clock (special 12 hour-sticks for the night exist). Many visitors will come to the house, burn a stick, and talk to the family. After these 35 days, the urn is finally buried on a Buddhist cemetery. Buddhist temple with cemetery The Japanese visit their ancestors' graves on many occasions during the year: especially during the obon week, the anniversaries, and the equinoctial weeks. Obon is the festival for honouring and remembering the ancestors and is celebrated in August. There are certain things (e.g. concerning chopsticks) one should not do in everyday life because they are linked to funeral rites and death, and are, therefore, suspected to cause bad luck.

FUNERALS Japanese Funeral Style (Osousiki Plaza Homepage) Exact description in check list form. No links yet.