News Grave closures rise across Japan

[thomas]

My wife's family recently faced the situation described in the video. While they didn't close the graves, they consolidated family graves and interred two families in one location.

More families in Japan are choosing to close their family graves as smaller households and changing lifestyles make them harder to maintain. With fewer descendants to inherit grave plots and many people living far from ancestral burial sites, keeping graves in the long term has become increasingly complex.

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In response, a new service launched in Nara City last month allows cremated remains to be kept permanently. People are submitting most applications while they are still alive, with more than 70% choosing to make arrangements in advance, highlighting widespread anxiety over who will look after graves in the years ahead.

Reporter Bamba Nagisa asked residents how they feel about graves, with one person in their 40s saying summer visits can be exhausting due to extreme heat and that keeping flowers and maintaining the site can be difficult. A resident in their 60s said they feel they must set aside money to eventually dispose of the family grave, while a couple in their 30s said they plan to manage the grave they inherited but worry it may become a burden for their children, making them consider closing it down. The practice, known as "hakajimai," involves removing a grave and relocating the remains, and it has been increasing in recent years as Japan's declining birthrate leaves fewer people to take over family graves. The number of cases involving the relocation of remains, including hakajimai, has roughly doubled over the past decade.

Grave Closures Increase in Japan

A growing number of families in Japan are choosing to close down their family graves, driven by factors such as fewer descendants to inherit burial plots and the difficulty of maintaining graves far from where they now live.

newsonjapan.com

 

[Lothor]

It's good to see affordable options being offered to people. I'm leaning towards having my ashes scattered somewhere nice in the UK.

 

[thomas]

I told my wife to scatter my ashes in the Tamagawa. However, there seem to be environmental regulations that prohibit exactly that.

 

[Grandpa Frank]

To get around that , I'd have my wife put my ashes inside a vacuum cleaner. Then dump it out and look like just bad manners.

 

[Grandpa Frank]

I'm having my ashes put into a big bottle of Pepsi and placed where I can watch TV.