-------- continued (3/19/13)

Hey oh y’all,

So here’s a part of the ceremony I was not expecting:

Cremation or kasou.

Promptly after the funeral (which mind you was only 2 days after the death) the body is brought to a crematorium.

Unlike in America, where I would say that most people are buried or “dosou sareta,” in Kyoto, there is apparently a law that says all bodies must be cremated. After the funeral, the family is presented with a large photo, a plaque bearing the name, and a jar. These are to be placed in the family home shrine…the jar will be important later.

So we drove a line of black cars to the crematorium, which was rather busy. You wait for your family name to be called, then you enter a hall where the casket is. The hall looks a lot like an empty chapel (no crosses, but kind of similar architecture and stonework). There is another prayer and incense offering, then you follow the casket to what looks like an office elevator hall. The casket is placed into an “elevator” and is sent to be cremated.

Then you wait some more. The air in the waiting area is kind of odd. The waiting lobby is filled, two floors full. Everyone is dressed in formal blacks, and you know exactly why everyone is there. But no one openly cries, and there is quite a bit of conversation. You can also eat lunch at a cafe. At the very least, it does help to cut the anxious waiting.

Finally your family name is called again, and you enter a room that looks more like a hospital room…and you see the heated bones on a rolling cart. The bones are so bare and crumble so easily. You may have seen human skeletons in a science room and whatnot, but this is different. This is not for the faint of heart or weak of stomach. So much respect to my 10 year-old host brother for facing this entire process (and the cremated body) with such a brave face…perhaps he’s seen this before…so much more mature than I ever was at his age.

Then you take large chopsticks and pick up the bones to put into the jar. I do not know what I thought as I picked up a rib and placed it into the jar, hearing a slight crunch in the process.

When the jar was almost filled, then they put in parts of the skull…

It’s…yeah…it’s not like my description helps it any.

Parting thought: To be a staff at a crematorium or a funeral ceremony hall...I cannot imagine...

DC