Funerals in Japanese Culture - Essay Example

Effects of Corporate Restructuring Number: Introduction Funeral in Japan is one of the most valued ceremony in the country. Funeral practices and attitudes towards death and funeral hold on strictly to the customs and beliefs of the Japanese culture unlike other ceremonies like wedding that have experienced much change over time. Most of the Japanese culture has significantly been affected by westernization particularly on functions like wedding with less change being experienced on funerals. The custom and beliefs surrounding the funerary practices are a splicing of a Shinto, Confusion beliefs and Buddhist whereby most of the Japanese are considered as Buddhist, Shinto, or Shinto-Buddhist. However, despite the various religions that Japanese follow, it seems like it is a mutual agreement that all funerary ceremonies are supposed to be approached according to Buddhist norms. Moreover, Japanese people have a special consideration of traditional notions of death thus making it a significant element that must be considered. Just like most of the communities in the world, Japanese beliefs’ on death has being heavily impacted by their close relationship with Buddhists and Shinto. They believe that death is unpredictable and a natural procedure that that defines the end of a life (Hoshino, 1996). It is clear that their culture has already embraced the fact that death is part of human living with society members consoling the deceased’s relatives with common phrases like ‘accept death as it is’, ‘life and death are one phenomenon’ among many other popular ones are key motifs that are integrated in their culture. Similarly to the Buddhist perception towards a dead body, Japanese also believe in rebirth or what they commonly refer to as re-incarnation meaning that there is life after death (Stone & Walter, 2008 ). Therefore, death is just a beginning of another life that is marked by the ending of the life on earth, a factor that makes the society consider funeral as a very important ritual (Hoshino, 1996). They believe that the spirit of the deceased are revived during the funeral ceremony, a factor that makes the whole ceremony not to focus on grieving and consoling the living friends and relatives, but rather on the spiritual journey of the dead person. Retaining funeral traditions and customs during the funeral is considered as a vital element for many believe that it is among the best practices that can be done to show respect to the deceased as well as to the ancestors. Up to date, Japanese people believe that the dead who go to join the ancestors live with them and are in charge of protecting them, watching over them and guiding them, a factor that exemplifies their respect and value over them particularly by following the relevant traditions and customs during funeral (Stone & Walter, 2008 ). According to their culture, lips of the dead are supposed to be moistened using water with the body being washed and dressed up in a white garment referred to as kimono preferably before one hour is over after the death (Stone & Walter, 2008 ). This ceremony of wetting the lips is called Matsugo-no-mizu or water of the last moment with the body being washed specifically in a sakasa mizu tub,. This practice of tying the kimono is done in differently from the way the living people tie theirs. For the living, kimono is supposed to be folded with the left side folded to the right while this is not the case for the deceased. Kimono for the dead is folded up with right side being folded up over the left(Gerhart, 2009). However, kimono is for women while men are dressed in a suit. After this, family members and close relatives are required to pass nighttime with the deceased. The body is usually enclosed by incense, offering rice, candles, among other items they are believed to put the deceased’s spirit at easiness (Gerhart, 2009). After this process, the body is then left in that state as final preparations for the journey to the afterlife whereby the undertaker is invited and friends and relatives notified. Immediately after this exercise, dates and arrangements for the funeral ceremony can be decided with special consideration for the Buddhist culture and calendar with a Buddhist Priest being invited to the deceased home to declaim a sutra just a day from the death. Most of the Japanese funeral rituals are a combination of Buddhist traditions, native Shinto which are inseparable (Gerhart, 2009). During the day of interment, funeral firms builds and setup an altar at the deceased’s home, hall, or in a Buddhist/Shinto shrine (Gerhart, 2009). After all the preparations are in order, the body of the deceased is placed in a coffin with the head always facing to the north, a direction that is considered to as a bad luck and living people never place their head facing the north while sleeping. Then, rice is offered to the body with two chopsticks positioned in an upright way (Bernstein, 2006). This is very essential for they believe that the given rice is the lunch for the deceased on his or her way to the world of the spirits. The upright positioning of the chopsticks is defined as a message to the deceased that he or she is no longer among the living. A monk reads sutras for the deceased with the people who have attended the burial are required to approach the dead and offer incense and prayers especially if the funeral is Buddhist. Immediately after all the guests have offered their prayers and offerings, the coffin is carried to the hearse by pallbearers and then taken to the crematorium. Family members may opt to accompany the body to the crematorium or not but they must prepare a zuda-kunichi, which a bag containing personal items, nail clippings as well as coins for the deceased journey to Anoyo (Bernstein, 2006). Then the bag is placed on the neck and later after cremation ashes of the dead are positioned in a jug with the bigger bone remains being passed from person to person with diverse pairs of chopsticks. Then the jug containing the ashes is kept on the relatives’ altar close to a tablet with the name of the dead until the 49th day after the death. On the seventh day, ceremony is held for the dead with sutras being recited and prayers offered to the dead. After this, it is believed that the dead has completely gone to the world of spirits unless there exist some unmet obligations (Gerhart, 2009). Both Buddhists and Shinto believe in the world of the spirits of the deceased persons being referred to as Anoyo. However, the spirits of the dead can also live in this world which they refer to as Konoyo. They believe that the spirit of the dead takes about 49 days in order for it to reach to anoyo. However, the spirit of the dead may fail to go to anoyo especially if its obligations here on earth had not been well met, one being the offering of a respectable death ceremony. In such a case, the deceased will keep appearing to the living people inform of a ghost until all the issues and obligations are met or resolved in a proper manner (Bernstein, 2006). Anoyo is presumed to be the final destination of the deceased though its proximity and location in relation to world of the living is flexible. The exact location of the world of the spirits is a debatable topic since some people claim that it is in the mountains with others claiming that it is in waters and forests among other arguments. With respect to the concept of obligation, Japanese believe that every person carries a burden of obligations known as ‘On’ which is received from the parents immediately after birth. An individual can also get it from their siblings, teachers and from any other person who has ever shown love to the dead. The ‘On’ debts are classified into various categories with some being referred to as Guri, which are repaid through gifts, hard work, and volunteer work equivalent to the help received or by money. Other types of ‘On’ debts called Gimu may at times be difficult to pay and are attached to the family members and relatives. They believe that the deceased owes the living a lot of love that he or she had received from the family members and friends. If these debts are not solved before the deceased is not buried, Japanese claim that both sides feel uneasy and upset though at times one might not be able to fully repay the debt. In such a case, they believe that the unmet debt can be solved by making a proper apology in order to prevent developing of a feeling of injury to the indebted (Bernstein, 2006). These unpaid debts can only be paid by performing the most proper rituals for the deceased during the burial with family members being required to be respecting the spirit/memories of the deceased by living in a socially respectable and acceptable manner. Failure to do so can lead to the spirit of the dead not going to the world of the spirits not until all obligations are met. There exist many Japanese tales that explain how the unmet obligations can be met and how the spirit of the dead can be showing up in such a case. A good example of such a tale is the popular one of a three sisters who were killed on a railway line, and how they kept on appearing until a crossing bridge for people on that particular place was built. The above photograph shows funeral arrangement, flower preparations, a photograph of the departed, and a spirit tablet (Anonb, 2014). http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c6/The_altar_of_the_Japanese_Buddhism-style_funeral%2Csaidan%2Cjapan.jpg/220px-The_altar_of_the_Japanese_Buddhism-style_funeral%2Csaidan%2Cjapan.jpg A photo showing the process of cremation (Anon, 2014) http://www.japanvisitor.com/images/content_images/funeral-6.jpg References Anonymous. (2014). Japanvisitor.com. Retrieved from: http://www.japanvisitor.com/images/content_images/funeral-6.jpg [Accessed: 31 Mar 2014] Anonymousb. (2014). Upload.wikimedia.org. Retrieved from: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c6/The_altar_of_the_Japanese _Buddhism-style_funeral%2Csaidan%2Cjapan.jpg/220px- The_altar_of_the_Japanese_Buddhism-style_funeral%2Csaidan%2Cjapan.jpg [Accessed: 31 Mar 2014] Bernstein, A. (2006). Modern passings: Death rites, politics, and social change in Imperial Japan. Honolulu T.H.: University of Hawaii press. Gerhart, K. M. (2009). The material culture of death in medieval Japan. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. Hoshino, K. (1996). Japanese and Western bioethics: Studies in moral diversity. Dordrecht [u.a.: Kluwer. Stone, J. I., & Walter, M. N. (2008). Death and the afterlife in Japanese Buddhism. Honolulu: University of Hawaiʻi Press. Read More