Mainichi Daily News, September 11, 2006

Japan -- Japan's crematoriums are getting fired up over the burning issue of how to cope with the burgeoning death rate the country faces in the not-too-distant future, according to Shukan Bunshun (9/14).

Dominated by the Buddhist faith for decades, the country's funeral business is undergoing a variety of wholesale changes.

"It's now the trend in the drastically changing funeral business to go out on the cheap. Growing numbers of people are looking to spend as little as possible on their funerals," Fumio Igami, president of religious corporation consulting company Japan Temple Van Inc. tells Shukan Bunshun. "And a lot of the change has to do with changing Japanese attitudes toward religion."

No longer are people willing to pay out hundreds of thousands of yen for funerals with added services such as professional mourners or the bestowing of posthumous Buddhist names. But that doesn't mean things aren't looking bright for those who deal with the dead.

In 2003, more than 1 million Japanese died. By 2038, the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research estimates that 1.7 million Japanese a year will die, making passing away profitable for growing numbers of businesses, even if they're not the religious firms that have largely held sway until now.

Hotels and department stores have already got into the caper, offering such services as "party funerals" or consultation centers for what to do with your own demise. Other companies are selling plans that allow your ashes to be turned into diamonds. The Internet is packed with companies willing to run funerals for the bereaved.

With Japan graying rapidly and few children being born to replace those dying off, companies that once thrived in the bridal business are now turning to the death biz.

But death becoming such a booming business also presents a slew of new problems, especially for those -- like crematoriums -- who are dying to get an even larger slice of the market.

"Demand for crematoriums is skyrocketing, but there isn't any space to build the big parking lots you need for them," Igami says. "People hate having a crematorium in the neighborhood, too. It's really difficult to build new ones."

One possible solution currently underway is "funeral boats." Crematoriums, funeral parlors and accommodation facility operators would be asked to join hands to fund construction of massive ships that could serve as offshore, floating crematoriums. Mourners would be able to park their cars on the land and float out to sea where their loved ones would be cremated. Operating costs would also be kept to a minimum.

"The ships would be almost always docked, so fuel costs would be low," Igami tells Shukan Bunshun.

Whatever way it turns out, it seems the traditional Buddhist wake and funeral are going to be given short shrift.

"Consumers are starting to be moved more by market principles. People are living longer, they're less likely to go to funerals through a sense of obligation and the overall number of mourners is decreasing. Both the parishes system and territorial sense in society have broken down and more and more people are looking to be sent off by groups of close friends having a good time rather than have everybody sitting around listening to mantras being chanted," Hideo Usui, deputy chief editor of Gekkan Butsuji (Monthly Buddhist Items), tells Shukan Bunshun. "There's definitely a shift away from Buddhist funerals in favor of simple memorial services and I fear that the traditional Japanese funeral is in danger of becoming a thing of the past." (By Ryann Connell)