INTRODUCTION
In both Japan and Taiwan, traditional attitudes toward death are evolving in response to modern challenges. While Japanese weddings often embrace Christian traditions, funerals remain steeped in Buddhist rituals. However, shifts in religious practices and societal norms are reshaping how people approach end-of-life ceremonies.
In Japan, the decline in Buddhist temple attendance and the rising cost of traditional funerals reflect changing priorities among the younger generation. Many are seeking alternative ways to connect with spirituality, often turning to nature for inspiration. Additionally, the pandemic has accelerated changes in funerary rites, prompting a move towards simpler and more cost-effective ceremonies.
Similarly, in Taiwan, cremation is becoming more prevalent as an alternative to traditional burial practices. This shift highlights a broader trend of modernization and adaptation in how communities honor their departed loved ones.
As we navigate these changes, there's much to learn from the rich cultural heritage of these regions. Concepts like impermanence, as exemplified by the fleeting beauty of cherry blossoms in Japan, remind us of the transitory nature of life. Moreover, practices such as writing death haiku and honoring ancestors reflect deep spiritual connections that transcend generations.
Ultimately, as we confront the complexities of modern life, we can draw wisdom from these traditions to find meaning and solace in the face of mortality.
DEATH AND RELIGION
There is a saying in Japan that you marry Christian but die Buddhist. Most modern Japanese weddings are in Christian churches with white weddings, but most funerals are still observed in Buddhist temples. I’ve come to know a lot about Japanese and Taiwanese culture in my travels over the years, and I’m particularly interested in their concepts of the afterlife and death.
I’ve practiced Zen meditation at temples in Japan that reflect the Buddhist and Shinto religion that helps the population cope with life and death. Tomb cleaning in the spring pays respect to loved ones by visiting them and the summer Obon holiday allows the dead to visit the living However, fewer Japanese are attending Buddhist temples and religious practices around death are changing too (McCurry 2015).
Funerary rites have changed since the pandemic. Many religious rituals are literally dying out from lack of participants (Miura 2024). Not even Japan’s busy funeral industry appears able to come to Buddhism’s rescue. While almost 1.3 million Japanese died last year, few relatives can afford the millions of yen it costs to hold a traditional Buddhist funeral. More are opting for cheaper, secular ceremonies, while priests say they feel duty-bound to drastically lower costs to give deceased parishioners a fitting sendoff. Yet young people are turning to nature for inspiration to get in touch with the divine and how to harmonize their lives (Hiromi 2014).
What can we learn from these traditional cultures as we adapt to a modern era?
MODERN TIMES ERASING TRADITIONS SURROUNDING DEATH
Modern times are changing, and the traditional responsibilities of caring for the ancestors have become a burden. When I was in Japan, I witnessed butsudens, Buddhist ancestral altars, burned at a temple. Modern homes are too small for these heavy ancestral altars that require daily attention, and the energy in the wooden structures couldn’t be just sold as a second-hand antique.
People in Taiwan are choosing more cremation rather than the traditional bone excavation and second burial. The bones are where the Taiwanese believed the soul’s essence is kept. (Buchanan 2006.)
Other areas are changing as well, especially how temples conduct funerals.
For the past few decades, (Lam 2023) the temples’ reliance on funerals to keep afloat had fed into negative stereotypes of Buddhism as unconcerned with the real lives of real people: the Japan Buddhist Federation and Daiwa Securities, once jointly conducted a survey that exposed “how infrequently priests are called upon to cater to parishioners’ spiritual needs.” (Japan Today) The pandemic led to an overall reduction of funeral costs, as well as procedures with internet-based operators like Kamakura Shinsho and others eating into the business of temples. Powerful business interests like Japan Agricultural Cooperatives, four private railway companies, and three hotel groups have made things that much more difficult (Japan Today). Buddhist otsuya (wakes) were already among the few consistent revenues of Japanese temples (which also made them targets of derision as funerary businesses). Now the pandemic has spurred many Japanese people to adopt “single ceremony” funerals, with the Buddhist wakes being the first to be cancelled.
The pastoral front has been decimated as well. Despite conversations in the media and broader society about the need for greater awareness around mental health, encounters between practicing Buddhists and priests at family temples have continued to drop. Consultations over personal or spiritual matters are at a catastrophically low 0.7 per cent. Even during festivals or funerary occasions, where Buddhist priests are supposedly more visible, the numbers are far from encouraging: 50 per cent for memorial services and funerals, 26.8 per cent during Obon, the festival for the dead, and 25.8 per cent during visits to family graves.
This is all part (Allison 2023) of a burgeoning new “ending industry”—of businesses, initiatives, and products—that has arisen over the last twenty-five years in the face of changing demographics and the rise of an aging/more singular population less likely to have, or want to burden, family for handling mortuary arrangements, all of which go under the umbrella of “shūkatsu” (literally ending activity).5 This includes everything from shūkatsu counselors, support teams, and handbooks to one-stop funeral operations, urban columbaria, “corpse hotels” (where corpses await what can be long delays for crematoria), ash scattering, and new-style mortuary and postmortem arrangements of various kinds. As in the account of Ending Center above, not all who are drawn to this do so because they lack family or a family grave: those seeking out alternatives to the family model can be singles, childless couples, families, and all of the above looking to move remains from ancestral graves in the countryside to facilities where they will be given “eternal memorial” (eitaikuyō) by a Buddhist priest on staff. Following lifestyle trends in post-Bubble Japan towards minimalism (danshari), the desire these days is for simplicity and convenience at life’s end as well, and choices for this now abound in the new marketplace.
SOURCES:
Miura, I., Famed festival with 1,000-year history held for the last time. The Asahi Shimbun February 18, 2024 https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/15170934
Hiromi, M. Japanese Religion Comes Full Circle: Millennials in Search of Their Spiritual Roots. Nippon.Com April 14, 2014. https://www.nippon.com/en/in-depth/a02904/
McCurry, J. Zen no more: Japan Shuns its Buddhist traditions as temples close
The Guardian November 6, 2015
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/nov/06/zen-no-more-japan-shuns-its-buddhist-traditions-as-temples-close
Kincaid, C. The Japanese Death Poem. Japan Powered December 1, 2013 https://www.japanpowered.com/japan-culture/jisei-the-japanse-death-poem
Buchan, N. (2006, Sept. 17) Dem Bones, dem bones. Taipei Times. https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/feat/archives/2006/09/17/2003328096