Cremation in Japan. Funeral rites in Japan. The lifetime contract has come into use even among the most conservative Japanese

Japanese rituals associated with the burial of the dead have been known for a long time. In ancient times, Japanese funerals of the nobility required, for example, that one of the deceased's close friends or employees commit hara-kiri in order to be buried nearby. Japanese funeral rites also allowed for the burial of “models” of a loved one with the deceased, and they also did the same with necessary things - they placed models in the tomb.

In the 19th century, Japanese rituals began to “adapt” to the new fashion of burning corpses. The Japanese cemetery became empty and lost its noble dead. The ceremony of burning the body was magnificent and took place in front of many people. Japanese rituals say that the more magnificent and rich the Japanese funeral, the better the deceased will be in the kingdom of the dead.

The burning took place in a certain order. In this order, according to Japanese rituals and traditions, the relatives of the deceased leave the house another hour before, followed by the priest and his assistants in a palanquin. Next in the procession comes a torchbearer and singers who sing hymns. After them, according to tradition, everyone else follows in pairs, and the processions are closed by servants, on whose spears the name of the deceased is emblazoned. At the end of the procession a stretcher is carried with a corpse dressed in white robes. The deceased is placed in a praying position. A fire is made on the mountain. When the stretcher is visible, a mournful cry rises, to the sound of which the corpse is placed on a pyramidal pyre. On both sides of the structure there are tables - on one side with fruit dishes, on the other - with a brazier and coals and pieces of aloe. At this time, the priest begins chants, which are picked up by everyone who came. Having circled the head of the deceased three times with a torch, the priest passes the torch to his youngest son, who lights the fire at the head. At this time, everyone begins to throw pieces of aloe, resin into the fire, and pour aromatic oils. After the fire engulfs the entire pyramid, they are supposed to disperse, leaving the food for the poor.

According to Japanese rituals, the next day you are supposed to return to the place of burning and collect the remains of the corpse - teeth, bones, etc. The remains are placed in a vessel that is installed at home. But the Japanese funeral does not end there either - after seven days, the vase with the remains is transferred to the crypt.

Japanese pauper funerals suggest a slightly different scenario. They are taken to a Japanese cemetery and buried in a coffin, which is decorated with flowers if possible. The burial site is also maintained in order over time, if possible.

Japanese rituals also apply to the dead of middle income. Immediately after the death, the relatives call the priest, who performs an examination to determine the causes of death and begins chanting. The deceased is then washed, dressed and placed in a coffin. They place him there in a sitting position, with his legs touching his chin and his hands folded in front of his face. The coffin remains at home for three or four days, and every day a priest comes to read prayers.

In ancient times, people in Japan were buried in a variety of ways, including such exotic ones as burial in water or on a tree. But still, two methods of burial were usually used: air and burial in the ground or inhumation. Air burial consisted of leaving the body in the mountains or simply in any deserted area. As a rule, ordinary people used air burial, and noble people temporarily displayed the body of the deceased, then burying it in the ground.

In old Japan, the body was prepared for funeral by all the villagers. They washed him and dressed him in white. Buddhist priests conducted the funeral service. After this, everyone carried the body together to the place of burial or cremation.

Now, when a person dies in Japan, loved ones negotiate with the priest and funeral agency about the date of the funeral. Usually the funeral takes place on the second day. However, it is also possible to change the date if the death occurred at the beginning or end of the year or on a day that is considered unfavorable.

The deceased is laid with his head facing north. To scare away the evil Ears, a knife is placed on the chest or next to the head. Candles and incense are constantly burning nearby. During the entire period of mourning, which can last up to 49 days, a death notice is posted on the front door.

At the end of all the rituals, the body of the deceased is placed in a coffin, which can be ordinary, where the deceased is placed lying down, or in the form of a box, where the deceased can be in a sitting position. The coffin is then nailed down and carried to the crematorium. After the burning, relatives collect the remains of the deceased in a small urn. True, depending on the condition of the relatives, the urn can be large and very expensive.
The urn is placed on a special altar, where it remains for 49 days if the deceased is a man and 35 if the deceased is a woman. Every seventh day, family and friends gather at the altar for memorial services.

All these days the relatives are in mourning. At this time, they cannot have fun and go on holidays. It is believed that on the 49th day the process of purifying the spirit of the deceased is completed. After this, the urn with the ashes is placed in the cemetery soil.

The cemetery is usually located in some green area. There is definitely a Buddhist temple nearby. The construction of the grave is subject to the laws of Feng Shui. However, in modern Japan it is becoming increasingly difficult to find a good place.

After the funeral, ritual ceremonies are held daily, then monthly, then annually. The deceased is expected on All Souls' Day and on all other major holidays. For this, relatives go to the cemetery with an offering. Food, incense sticks, and flowers are placed on the grave.

Japan is a country of amazing traditions. In Japanese culture, medieval morals are paradoxically combined with a passion for the total use of high technology in all spheres of life. The customs of modern Japanese are built around ancient secular traditions, as well as around two religions - Buddhism and Shintoism (an ancient pagan faith). About 80% of the country's residents claim to profess both religions, which looks strange in the eyes of representatives of other cultures. This is largely why Japanese rituals seem so unusual to foreigners.

The Japanese funeral is perhaps the most unusual of these rituals, as death in Japan is associated with a whole range of traditions and ceremonies.

Preparation for burial

Immediately after death, the body of the deceased is prepared for burial. The lips of the deceased are supposed to be moistened with water, and a special knife is placed on his chest, which is believed to drive away evil spirits. A small table decorated with flowers and a scented candle is placed near the bed of the deceased. If the family of the deceased has a Buddhist or Shinto altar, it is covered with white paper - it is believed that this protects the deceased from evil spirits.

The body of the deceased is washed, after which funeral makeup is applied. Women are usually buried in a kimono, and men in a business suit. The deceased's favorite things and six coins are placed in the coffin. According to legends, the money is the payment for crossing the river of the dead Sanzu.

Funeral service in Japanese

The funeral service is the first ceremonial part of a Japanese funeral. It is usually held in Buddhist temples. If the deceased was a Buddhist, then at the ceremony a Buddhist priest reads sutras, and those bidding farewell come with juju beads. The funeral service ends when the priest finishes reading the sutra.

It is customary to come to a funeral ceremony in strict black clothes. Women wear a black dress or kimono, men a black suit, black tie and white shirt.

Family members sit next to the coffin with the body of the deceased, the rest of the ceremony participants sit at a distance. Everyone present must burn the ceremonial incense three times.

Giving mourning money

At a funeral service, it is customary to give money to the family of the deceased. Usually they are brought in a special envelope decorated with mourning flowers. The amount inside the envelope depends on how close the guest was with the deceased and how wealthy the guest is. At the end of the ceremony, the relatives of the deceased present the remaining participants with money in return. This gift is usually between a quarter and half of the amount given by the guest.

Farewell in Japanese

Farewell to the deceased takes place the day after the funeral service. It is also held in a Buddhist temple. This is the last opportunity to say goodbye to a person, and many guests place flowers on the shoulders and head of the deceased as a sign of grief.

As with funeral services, farewells in Japan are accompanied by reading Buddhist sutras and smoking incense. As part of the ceremony, the priest gives the deceased a new name. It is designed to protect the deceased from returning - if someone from the world of the living calls him.

At the end of the ceremony, the coffin with the body of the deceased is closed, loaded onto a hearse and taken to the crematorium.

Cremation in Japan

Cremation is the most common method of burial in Japan, chosen by more than 95% of the country's residents. Relatives of the deceased watch in silence as the body of the deceased is sent into the crematorium oven. Then they leave the funeral hall and return 2 hours later to pick up the ashes.

Ceremony of placing ashes in an urn

The transfer of ashes to the urn should also take place in the form of a ceremony. Two close relatives transfer the ashes of the deceased to the urn using large metal sticks. First, they lay the ashes of the lower part of the body and finish with the upper one - it is believed that the position of the remains in the urn should in no case be upside down. This is the only ceremony in Japanese culture in which it is considered acceptable and proper to pass something to another person with chopsticks.

Burial in Japan

After the ashes are transferred to an urn, the remains of the deceased are buried in one of the Japanese cemeteries in a family burial plot, or in a grave on a corporate plot.

The name of the living person on the tombstone

On family tombstones, the name of the deceased and his spouse are often immediately written, even if she is still alive. To emphasize that the person is still alive, red paint is applied over the engraving. When the deceased's spouse dies, her ashes are placed in an existing grave and the paint is washed off.

Corporate burials

Corporate burials are reserved for company employees; most often middle and senior managers are buried in them. Tombstones can be decorated with the company logo, or made in the form of its products. Often such burials are carried out at the expense of the organization. To be buried in a grave provided by the company is a great honor and recognition of the services of the deceased. Some of these burials are adjacent to historical crypts and sarcophagi, which contain the remains of medieval Japanese samurai, daimyo and shoguns.

Ancestor cult

Ancestor worship is an important part of Japanese beliefs. Every family has an altar dedicated to their deceased ancestors. It is believed that the deceased remains in the family, turning into the patron of his relatives.

Japanese funeral – 7th and 49th day

It is customary to commemorate the deceased on the 7th and 49th days after death. This is due to the fact that in Japanese the number seven is consonant with the word “death”, and therefore is considered special. However, in some regions of the country these dates may differ.

Memorial Days

Subsequently, the memory of the deceased is honored four times a year: on the Obon holiday (the day of universal remembrance of the dead), the New Year and on the days of the equinox.

On this day, traditional treats or favorite dishes of the deceased are brought to the family altar. On Memorial Day, friends of the deceased can send his family food to prepare this meal.

For the Japanese, the deceased leaves home only when his grandchildren have been buried. After this, he joins the spirits who patronize the entire family. Until this happens, the relatives of the deceased turn to the family altar to share their experiences, joys and hardships with the deceased.

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Death and funeral in Japan

The majority of the Japanese profess Buddhism and believe in obligatory samsara, that is, the transmigration of the souls of the dead to one of the 6 worlds. Buddhist views and traditions thus influenced Japanese funeral rites.

He was also influenced by the traditional Japanese religion of Shintoism, which deified nature and divided everything into pure and impure. From his point of view, death was perceived as something extremely unclean. Therefore, the deceased himself must be cleansed, as well as the funeral participants after the ceremony.

Death

In Japan, the loss of loved ones is perceived as a bereavement (despite the belief that the spirit of the deceased will be incarnated in a new life). Therefore, grieving, including publicly, and even crying is considered commonplace. However, the Japanese still do not express very strong feelings in connection with the death of their loved ones due to the restraint that national cultural codes call for.

Immediately after someone in the family dies, relatives invite a Buddhist priest and a representative of the funeral agency to the house. The first must take care of the soul, the second - about the body of the deceased. But even before this, it is necessary to carry out an ancient ritual called the “posthumous sip of water” (matsugo no mizu).

To do this, all family members in turn (which is organized according to the closest relationship of each of those present) must wipe the mouth of the deceased with cotton wool wrapped around a chopstick and soaked in water. Next you need to cleanse the body. Previously, this was done by relatives, now they are most often helped by an agency representative, and sometimes relatives do not take part in the washing at all.

First, the body is washed with hot water, then wiped with alcohol or another disinfectant liquid. Cotton swabs soaked in alcohol or sake are placed in the mouth, nostrils and anus to prevent waste from leaking out (it is not customary to embalm bodies in Japan).

Clothes

deceased in different ways. Often, a traditional kimono is chosen for this - kekatabira. Previously, it was always white (that is, a mourning color) with sutras written on it. Now white is invariably used for women's and children's funeral clothing, while a man can also be buried in a black suit with a white shirt or a colored kimono.

They dress the deceased in mortal clothing according to the Sakigoto tradition - that is, in a different (namely reverse) order than the living are usually dressed. For example, buttons are fastened from bottom to top, kimonos are wrapped from right to left, etc. All this is done to separate the world of the dead from the world of the living. Leg warmers are usually put on the feet of the deceased (only with a kimono, and socks with a suit) and straw slippers. In this form, the deceased is placed in a coffin on a previously spread white linen. Women are covered with a scarf and a white blanket, and a quilted blanket is thrown over the male body, which must be turned inside out. The face of the deceased is painted and covered with a white cloth, a rosary is placed in his hands, and a cloth bag is put over his shoulder.

All these clothes and paraphernalia seem to indicate that a person is prepared for a pilgrimage to become a Buddha. By the way, in Japan, when talking about someone’s death, they use the allegory “became Buddha.” And to scare away evil spirits, a knife is placed in the coffin: at the head or on the chest.

Further, according to the unchanged Japanese custom, the place at the coffin is decorated in a special way, which is placed next to the family altar with the head facing north, and the face of the deceased should be turned towards the west. At the head of the coffin, an inverted screen and a special table are placed with incense and other incense burners, flowers, water and rice in a cup with chopsticks stuck vertically into it. Sometimes you can see rice buns on it. A painted portrait of the deceased is hung on the wall. However, the Japanese never use photographic images at funerals.

Funeral services

The Japanese take 2 days. In the evening of the 1st day, a so-called short funeral vigil is held (it lasts 3 hours), before which the deceased is given a posthumous name (kaime). This name is needed because, according to faith, the deceased becomes a disciple of the Buddha, a monk, who must now be called differently than in life. Everyone who wants to express condolences to the family comes to the first service.

At the end of it, it is customary to read telegrams of condolences and make speeches about the deceased, and then a short wake is organized. There is no meat on the table during them, but they are always treated to sweets, tea and sake. At night in modern Japan, you don’t have to be near the body. On the 2nd day, a memorial service takes place in the church before the funeral.

Funeral

in Japan it is usually prescribed on the second day after the death of a person. It is considered a good sign if a lot of people come to them. The clothes of mourners are necessarily black kimonos, dresses and suits. Those who come bring money in envelopes made of special paper with a silver pattern. They are tied with black thin ribbons.

The final farewell to the deceased takes place after the church service at the altar, after which the coffin is nailed shut (often by relatives), placed in a decorated hearse, and the funeral procession leaves for the crematorium.

Cremation

The most popular method of burial in Japan. When it is carried out, the mourners in the next room should tell each other funny and touching incidents from the life of the deceased.

After the allotted time for cremation has expired (usually it takes two to two and a half hours), crematorium employees take out the ashes on a tray, from which relatives transfer them into the urn with chopsticks.

First, they try to select the bones of the legs, then the pelvis and spine, then the arms and head. Subsequently, the urn with the ashes is embedded in a monument in the cemetery, which stands on the grave with family graves.

Japanese monuments

always made of stone and, if possible, massive and beautiful. There are no portraits on them - only names. But the shapes of stones can be very diverse, including sculptural compositions and complex memorial structures.

Remember

The Japanese usually celebrate their dead on the days of the spring and autumn equinox. This is usually March 20 or 21 and September 23 or 24.

These days, everyone who can tries to visit and put in order the ancestral graves and light candles and lanterns on them in order to illuminate the path for the souls of their ancestors in the afterlife. In some provinces, a similar holiday of the dead is celebrated in April.

Modern funeral

After death

Since there is an interweaving of beliefs in Japan (see Religion in Japan), funerals are usually carried out according to Buddhist rites. After death, the lips of the deceased are moistened with water - this is called the Death Water Ceremony. (Japanese: 末期の水 matsugo no mizu) . The family tomb is covered with white paper to protect the deceased from unclean spirits. This is called kamidana-fuji. A small table decorated with flowers, incense and candles is placed next to the bed of the deceased. A knife may be placed on the chest of the deceased to ward off evil spirits.

Relatives and superiors are notified, and a death certificate is issued. According to custom, the eldest son takes responsibility for organizing the funeral. The temple is then contacted to determine the date of the ceremony: some believe that certain days will be more auspicious. For example, some days, which according to superstitious beliefs happen once a month, are called tomobiki (Japanese: 友引); these days all affairs end in failure, and funerals entail the death of someone else. The body is washed and the holes are plugged with cotton or gauze. For men, the final clothing is a suit, and for women, a kimono. Although sometimes kimonos are used for men, in general, this is not very popular. Makeup is also applied to improve the appearance. The body is then placed on dry ice in a coffin, along with a white kimono, sandals and six coins, in order to cross the Sanzu River; Also, things that the deceased loved during life (for example, cigarettes or candy) are placed in the coffin. Next, the coffin is placed on the altar so that the head faces north or west (Buddhists mainly do this to prepare the soul for the journey to Western Paradise).

Funeral service

Traditional design of an envelope for money

Buddhist altar with wreaths, portrait of the deceased and funeral plaques

People come in black. Men wear a black suit with a white shirt and black tie, and women wear either a black dress or a black kimono. If the family of the deceased was committed to Buddhism, then guests usually bring with them prayer beads, which are called juzu (Japanese: 数珠). Guests can bring money as a sign of condolence in a special envelope decorated with silver and black flowers. Depending on the relationship with the deceased and his wealth, this amount can vary from 3,000 to 30,000 yen. Guests and relatives sit closer, and the Buddhist priest begins to read a passage from the sutra. Each family member burns incense three times before the deceased. At the same time, guests perform the same rituals in other places. As soon as the priest finishes the reading, the funeral service ends. Each invited guest gives a gift, the value of which is half or a quarter of the money he presents in the envelope. Close relatives may stay and serve the vigil overnight.

Funeral

The funeral usually takes place the day after the funeral service. Incense is also lit and the priest reads the sutra. During the ceremony, the deceased is given a new Buddhist name - kaimyo (Japanese: 戒名 kaimyo:) . This allows you not to disturb the soul of the deceased when his real name is mentioned. The length and prestige of the name depend on the life expectancy of the deceased, but most often on the size of the donations made by the family to the temple. Thus, the names are ranked from free and cheap to rare ones that can cost a million yen or more. The high prices charged by temples are a frequent topic of debate in Japan, especially since some temples put pressure on many families to buy a more expensive name. Typically, the kanji used in these kaimyo are very old and not used in common names so few can read them. At the end of the ceremony, before the coffin is placed in a decorated hearse and taken to the crematorium, guests and relatives may place flowers on the head and shoulders of the deceased. In some regions of Japan, it is customary for the deceased's closest relative to nail the coffin shut using a stone instead of a hammer.

Currently, a person who attends a funeral is considered defiled. Before entering his house, he must sprinkle fine salt on his shoulders, and also throw some salt on the ground and step on it with his feet in order to cleanse himself both above and below, and not bring filth into the house - everyone receives a bag of this salt participant in the funeral ceremony before leaving home. When visiting a cemetery, such a ritual is not performed, since, apparently, no desecration occurs.

Cremation

Ancestor cult and memorial services

It is believed that after death the deceased does not leave his family, but continues to be a member of it, but in a new state at the highest level of the family-tribal hierarchy.

Funeral services depend on local customs. Usually a death is followed by a number of such services - for example, within the first 7 or 49 days after death; or on the 7th, 49th and 100th day - it all depends on customs. It is customary to hold memorial services four times a year: on the New Year, Obon holiday, and on the days of the spring and autumn equinox (Higan).

Over the course of several days of the Obon celebration, a specific treat is placed on the altar of the ancestors - not only boiled rice and green tea, which are supposed to be served every day, but also miso soup - that is, the traditional food of the Japanese. Moreover, in stores these days food is sold already prepared and decorated for the ancestors. All this fits into small dishes. Often, yesterday's food is not thrown away, but accumulated, and on the last day of the celebration, when the souls of the ancestors are sent back, this food is loaded onto tiny boats and set to float out to sea. They also put paper lanterns with candles in them. But nowadays, in order to avoid sea pollution, the lanterns are then driven to the shore and burned. It is customary in the first year of Obon to send food to the family of the deceased, which can be placed on the altar as an offering, or money for these products. Often they send exactly those products that a person loved during his lifetime. However, the ancestors are provided with unusual chopsticks for eating. The chopsticks are broken in half and stuck vertically into the food, which is contrary to the rules of Japanese etiquette, because this is considered a bad omen, since this is how chopsticks used to be stuck into the rice at the head of the deceased. Nowadays, shortened (according to the tableware) red lacquered sticks are used. On the day of the arrival and departure of ancestors, it is customary to burn dry stems and straw in front of the house to light the road with them.

It is interesting that nowadays in the Japanese home the cult of ancestors is celebrated in front of the Buddhist altar with tablets on which the names of the deceased are written. However, there is an altar only in the main house - honke (Japanese: 本家 "main house") , the house of the eldest son, who inherited seniority from his father. In the house, for example, of the youngest son - bunke (Japanese: 分家 "partial", "separated house") You are not supposed to have an altar until someone dies in the house. However, even in this case, there will be a sign on the altar with the name of the deceased, and not with the names of parents or grandparents, not to mention more distant ancestors.

As already mentioned, the deceased continues to be considered a member of the family and is truly communicated with as if he were alive. For example, a schoolchild, having received a certificate, carries it to show it to his late grandparents, presenting it on his knees in front of the altar with a brief story about the circumstances of receipt. The ancestors are also told about important purchases and can often leave new property at the altar for several days.

The service can be repeated on the 1st, and sometimes on the 3rd, 5th, 7th and 13th, and several more times until the 39th or 50th year from the date of death. A photograph of the deceased is usually placed near or on the family altar.

However, the ancestor does not always remain in the family in the form of a death plaque and, being an object of veneration, it is believed that after two generations have passed, the memory of the deceased is lost. In such a case, the head of the house either burns the tablet, or throws it into the sea, or the name is scraped off it, or it is given to a Buddhist temple. Interestingly, in some places it is believed that the ancestor then becomes a kami, that is, a Shinto deity. Thus, with this verbal formula, the deceased is transferred from a narrow family ancestor-patron to the level of a deity - the patron of the entire community, although special honors are no longer given to him.

Ritual business in Japan

Japanese funerals are among the most expensive in the world. According to the Japan Consumers Association, the average cost of a funeral hovers around 2.31 million yen (USD 25,000). This amount includes food for the funeral staff (401,000 yen) and the services of the priest (549,000 yen). In general, the income from such a business is about 1.5 trillion yen. And that comes from 45,000 funeral homes. In 2004, 1.1 million people died in Japan (in 2003 - 1.0 million). This figure is expected to increase due to the increasing average age (see demographic situation in Japan). The funeral industry estimates there will be 1.7 million deaths by 2035 and $2 trillion in revenue by 2040.

There are a number of reasons that explain such a high cost of funerals. First of all, prices in Japan are already among the highest in the world. However, a more significant reason is that relatives of the deceased are very reluctant to negotiate prices and do not try to compare them, as they do not want the perception that they are trying to save money on the funeral of a loved one. And funeral homes abuse this, deliberately inflating prices and offering not the best conditions even for families who can hardly afford it. Often agents quite aggressively put pressure on relatives, forcing them to sign expensive contacts. Moreover, in many cases, the final cost of the funeral is not announced until after it is completed. A 2005 study showed that in 96% of cases, free choice of services was not adequate and many decisions were made for clients. 54.4% of funeral services offered price lists and catalogs to choose from to choose between different options.

However, recently there have been some changes in the field of funeral services. And some funeral homes are trying to offer more competitive and flexible prices than standard funeral services. They offer funeral arrangements starting from 200,000 yen, several standard overpriced services, as well as various additional options to choose from. Many of the new funeral service bureaus were established by foreigners. Moreover, for some time now, with a decrease in the number of weddings, hotels have begun to offer funeral services. Thus, competition increases because in order to stay afloat, older funeral homes are forced to lower prices. Another innovation is that a person orders all services before his death and pays a monthly fee (for example, 10,000 yen) until all expenses are covered.

Story

Jomon and Yayoi periods

One of the forms of burial before the appearance of burial mounds was a ritual in which the body was sent along the sea waves in a funeral boat. It is possible that at the beginning of the Kurgan period the sarcophagus itself had the shape of a boat. During excavations of one of the mounds in Kyushu, a drawing was discovered depicting a man with an oar standing on the stern of a gondola-type boat, on the bow there was something like two masts with sails, and a bird was also sitting on the boat. At the top of the boat on the right there is a round disk resembling the sun, and a smaller one on the left - probably a lunar one. Below is a sitting toad. The image of the moon, sun, toad and bird together is found in both China and Korea and must represent the journey of the soul to the abode of the dead.

It is noteworthy that, judging by the texts, the tomb itself was often called fune (Japanese: 船 fune, "boat"), and the entrance to it is funeri (Japanese: 船入 funeiri, "entrance to the boat"). Probably the archaistic belief in Marebitogami was also associated with the concept of a boat,