Japan's death specialists exhibit skills at expo

A panel of three judges examined not only how well the models were dressed but also how gracefully the nokanshi completed the whole process.

The deceased don't complain much, from that point of view a rather relaxing job.....

It came to worldwide attention in 2009 when the Japanese film “Departures” won the Oscar for best foreign language film for its depiction of an out of work cellist who becomes a nokanshi in smalltown Japan.

Interesting article. I had never heard of the movie "Departures," but it really looks interesting. Here is the trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdauCndFMZA

Huh, this is fairly interesting. Someone's gotta do it after all.

A Nokanshi came to prepare when my sister-in-law passed a few years back. I think she did her job very well in preparing my sister-in-law for the wake. Also felt when family witnessed a non family member treating the deceased with respect is somewhat comforting.

I think this is a hard job to do well and hopefully they would still have exhibitions about it but please no competitions. I just worry competitions would take away the focus from the deceased and turn future Nokanshis into barista like performers!

Feed me to the fish please...

i have much respect for nokanshi. departures - thumbs up to watch

Too much money to waste on something not alive.

Cremation and ashes in the sea in my goal for my demise.

I believe Nokanshi is more for survived family members and close friends ... Can you say the same(waste of money etc... ) when you are preparing for your family member's funeral???

Much respect! It must be a scary weird feeling the first day on the job.

I once visited a friend's home whose wife had recently died. Her body was laid out in their living room under a cover. They had to wait days before the cremation. The " specialist" visited daily, and added dry ice as needed to prevent decomposition. I felt uncomfortable when asked "Don't you want to pray for her?"

I watched 'Departures' on Netflix. Nice movie; I like it.