Japanese people now have more options than ever if they wish to have a funeral for, or with, their pet -- be it a dog, cat or even a bug.
Demand for joint burials with pets has grown in recent years despite religious prohibitions, with one pioneer company in Tokyo providing "with pet" graves since 2003.
Memorial Art Ohnoya Inc offers such graves in seven cemeteries in Japan and allows the remains of the pet to be interred even if it dies before the owner. The company has been contracted for its pet services around 1,500 times.
A man who began looking for a family grave site when his father died said he applied immediately upon finding the service as his family could not "contemplate being apart" from their dog, even after death.
"We respond to requests from those wanting to rest with their irreplaceable pets," said Yasunari Hakozaki from Ohnoya. "Some cemeteries also provide basins so that when people visit the grave with their pets, the pets can wash their feet."
Fuga, operator of tombstone retailer "Ishi no Miyabi," offers joint graves for owners and pets at its cemeteries in the cities of Kobe and Akashi in Hyogo Prefecture. It allows tombstones to be designed in line with the pet owners' wishes.
One example featured two cats in the middle of a circular tombstone. The animals' pictures were transferred onto a ceramic board, which is less likely to weather when outside.
At the Ai Pet Ceremony Amagasaki in Hyogo, people can bring their beetles and other insects personally or even send them by mail to have them buried. The facility provides memorial services once a month and notes that their deaths can help children learn about mortality.
© KYODO
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sakurasuki
While many families in Japan struggle to bear the cost for funeral
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https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2022/09/26/national/social-issues/funeral-costs/
https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/15036173
https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20170801/p2a/00m/0na/018000c
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WoodyLee
Mother Earth is where our and our Pets bodies belong and NOT a furnace where only one or two bones are saved.
Resurrection is a core belief of Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. I pray that when the day arrives I and the family pets be buried near each other but NOT together so we can be Resurrected and join each others in the after life.
Bob Fosse
World population has tripled in the last 70 years. Burial just isn’t a viable option in many communities.
HopeSpringsEternal
Obvious, people of Japan having "pets" and not kids, and more so every day as pet population booms while births has decreased shrinks for 43 straight Years!
Raymond Larabie
I went through this recently. It's very healing...the bones part kind of freaked me out but it helped us. Also: it's not as expensive as you might think. I went to a famous one in Nagoya and the bill wasn't that high even with the nice urn and service.
WA4TKG
Our family dog of 22/23 years is buried in the backyard.
We know where she is.
Laguna
My loving dog of 14 years came back in a box a lot like that in the photo. But then what to do? - we couldn't intern him in our family tomb, so we decided to place him next to our butsudan, where he remains.
HopeSpringsEternal
Just what Japan needs, more pets, but proof that unconditional love is indeed hard to find these days and takes LOTS of work, like raising a family with KIDS!
chatanista
Pet related business is huge and getting bigger.
travelbangaijin
Because pets don't receive pensions or government assistance - if pets did, their bodies would be shriveled up in the home like grandma
TokyoLiving
Good, do the funeral and give oportunity for another pet in need..
TokyoLiving
Sound nice but if people want to keep theior pet's ashes is their chioce, respect that..
Desert Tortoise
When a dog of ours passes we save their collar with tags, harness, leash and dog bowl along with the urn with the dog's ashes as their memorial. Our way of remember their love and devotion.
USNinJapan2
WoodyLee
That's very nice. Do you need to be reminded that we're talking about Japan where NONE of that's an issue?
Negative Nancy
Not for me. Our pets have been much loved, but they are taken away by the city. There is nothing to be gained by spending money on a dead animal. Animals do not care about what happens to them after death, that's a juvenile human concept aimed at getting money from vulnerable people.