Japanese Death Rituals

Melanie Teusch & Sarah Kline

Washing of the Body Body is washed at the hospital Stuffed with gauze or cotton Man: Dressed in suit Women: Dressed in kimono

Arrangements Choose type of casket Choose food for the funeral Fruits and flowers are placed

Preparing the Body Body is put on dry ice in the mortuary Body is placed in a casket along with

paper money and a white headband with a triangle in the center

Burnable things that the person was fond of are added as well such as cigarettes and candy

More dry ice is added before placing the casket by the alter

Condolences People sign in in a registry book and

give condolence money to the family Incense is burnt in front of the table

facing the casket The visitor extends his condolences to

the family then goes to the next room for food and drinks

Wake Service and The Wake

Buddhist priest comes and speaks briefly with the family

After everyone is there he turns to the alter, bows, lights incense, and begins to read a sutra

During the sutra reading, the priest gives a signal and the members of the family, who are seated in hierarchical order, rise and go to the incense urn, bow, offer incense, bow again and return to their seats

Continued… The visitors repeat the ritual until

everyone is finished Even after the wake service has ended,

visitors will continue to arrive to pay their respects

A small present is given to each visitor as he or she leaves as an expression of thanks from the family

The family stays up with the deceased in the same room for the night

Funeral The funeral is usually held on the day after the wake service The body is transferred to a temple and placed before the

altar in front of the temple altar Almost all of the visitors have rosaries, which they drape

over their hands People place a pinch of incense on the smoldering incense in

the urn after bringing it close to the forehead Telegrams from friends and companies are then read by an

emcee from the mortuary After the final viewing the casket is sealed Everyone stands at attention and the pallbearers carry the

casket to the hearse

The Crematorium The casket is unloaded from the hearse at the crematorium

and placed on a sliding tray connected to the oven An attendant tells the family what time to return to get the

remains After the body is burned the family members are given a

set of chopsticks to pick up the bones to put into the urn

Continued… The most important is the Adam’s apple Two family member help pick up the bones together with

chopsticks and this is the only time that it’s considered proper to hold anything with chopsticks at the same time by two people

When the urn has been filled, it is covered and wrapped in a white cloth

The urn may be taken home and kept there until after the 49th day memorial service

In other areas the urn may be taken directly to the cemetery There are large differences in ornaments, floral

arrangements and the processions themselves that are dependent on local customs

After CremationThere are memorial services as well as prescribed times for gravesite visitation that vary with the Buddhist sect and local customs Some areas have a service every day for the first 7 days, others have them at varying frequency up until the 49th day service

The Grave 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 are often but not always engraved on the front of the monument

When a married person dies before his or her spouse, the name of the spouse may also be engraved on the stone, with the letters painted red

After the death and the burial of the spouse the red ink is removed from the stone

History Jisei is a custom of the ancient literate

Chinese and Japanese to write a poem when death was imminent

Zen monks often wrote the poems The poems were typically written in waka or

haiku format Death was never mentioned explicitly but it

was symbolically such as a sunset or falling cherry blossoms

A small night storm blowsSaying ‘falling is the essence of a flower’

Preceding those who hesitate

Sources http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

Japanese_funeral http://tanutech.com/japan/

jfunerals.html