Do you want to enter the front and rear circle tombs? Jun 6 at 27:12
What kind of image do you have when you hear the word grave?
This grave is located in Fukuoka Prefecture.
Yes, it is in the shape of a front and rear circular mound.
There are more inquiries than expected and it is attracting attention, but it seems that there are various circumstances surrounding graves in the background.
(Network News Department Reporter Ao Taniguchi, Good Morning Japan Director Yuto Sakai)
In the form of a front and rear circle mound ...
This grave was completed two years ago in Shingu Town, Fukuoka Prefecture.
It is huge with a total length of 2 meters, a diameter of 53.16 meters of the circular part, and a height of 3.3 meters.
It is a grave where 3100,4 people can actually be buried, and is described as a "burial mound-type permanent grave".
We started selling the product in stages in April last year and opened it up to 1200,900 people, but more than 3 people have already sold it, more than three times the pace we expected.
There are many inquiries and it has become a hot topic on the Internet.
"Visiting graves will be fun," "There are many haniwa and other places, and it's lively, and it's irresistible for burial mound lovers,"
"It's a very interesting project, but it seems to confuse archaeologists 1000,<> years from now."
A fellow reporter who is a history buff also reacted.
When he was in college, he became fascinated with ancient tombs in earnest and went to see them almost every month.
He is such a kofun enthusiast that he makes the wedding cake a custom-made product imitating the chopstick tomb burial mound in Nara.
Akimoto:
"I thought it was The Anterior and Posterior Circle Tombs! The form and size tickle the hearts of Kofun fans."
The reason why I chose the Kofun type was...
However, it was not only Kofun fans who were paying attention.
If you listen to the voice of the contractor...
(Female in her 70s)
"I keep my brother's remains in the ossuary, but after I pass away, there will be no one to pay the management fee.
It is good that there are no headstones and that their management and cleaning are not a burden."
This grave is a "combined burial grave" in which multiple people are buried, and if you pay the permanent management fee once first, the cemetery will be responsible for the subsequent maintenance.
It is said to be popular with people who do not want to burden their children and grandchildren's generation with grave management and care.
Daisuke Matsuda, Director of the Public Relations Office of Shingu Cemetery, said, "While searching for a new form of grave,
we reviewed the origin of the grave and arrived at the burial mound.
The popularity of the funeral type is also in Tokyo
The popularity of such "combined funeral graves" is growing every year.
According to data from the eight Tokyo Metropolitan Cemetery in Tokyo, the number of applications for "combined funeral graves" reversed that of ordinary graves five years ago.
Last year, there were more than 2800,1 applications out of 2000,4 openings, a multiplier of 3.<> times.
Diversifying requests nationwide
One of the reasons behind this is the problem of the succession of graves, which is becoming more serious year by year.
In a survey conducted by a lifelong service company on people who bought a grave in 2022, a total of 58.4% of those who "have no heir" or "purchased a grave that does not require an inheritance" are combined. It is 4.6 points more than the previous year.
Yusuke Oshima, General Manager
of the Kamakura Shinsho Grave and Buddha Altar Division, said, "New types of graves, such as combined burials and tree burials, are increasing, and management methods are diversifying.
Visiting graves in the era of subscriptions?
Two years ago, a company in Tokyo began an initiative to place the remains in a temple near their homes.
We have partnered with more than 2 temples nationwide to have the remains of the deceased in collective graves taken care of on a monthly basis.
If there is no need to build a new grave and you want to move the remains on the way, you can move it to another temple and visit the grave.
He started the project in response to comments such as "I can't spend a lot of money on tombstones" and "I may move in the future due to job transfers
."
Yasutaka Nagata, CEO
of Noukotsubo "There are people who want to visit graves, but give up because they are expensive or far away, and I want to solve such problems as much as possible."
Visiting graves in the metaverse
On the other hand, the movement to go online due to the corona disaster is also for visiting graves.
Operating companies such as funeral homes in Saitama City have started an initiative to distribute actual funerals and legal affairs online when it was difficult for large numbers of people to gather due to the Corona disaster.
From this summer, we will be able to perform rituals in the metaverse (virtual reality) space, and we are also developing a function to visit graves.
After the remains will be placed in temples as before, they would like to provide a place for avatars to place flowers in front of the grave and discuss with relatives via chat.
Alpha Club Musashino, Representative
: "We realized that online funerals could be attended not only by people who are far away, but also by people who have difficulty traveling, and I hope that the metaverse will become a new form of memorial service as a means of visiting graves."
Beware of troubles
In fact, the history of visiting graves is not very long.
According to experts familiar with graves, the custom of cremating the remains, placing the remains in each grave, and visiting the graves became mainstream in the Showa era.
It was about two or three generations before us, and until then, they were often buried in the cemetery of the communal village.
Nowadays, due to changes in lifestyles, the number of "reburials" and "grave closures" that move graves is increasing, but troubles are also occurring, and it is necessary to be careful.
Midori Kotani, Representative Director of the Institute of Senior Life and Culture:
"In the case of reburial, there are relatives who are particular about the good fortune of the grave, and there are cases where discussions become tangled.
Originally, there is no right to charge the temple, and the user is not obliged to pay, but if you want to pay as a token of gratitude for your help, I think you can give a thank you based on the previous legal requirements and the amount of alms."
In addition, there have been troubles where the ossuary that claimed to be a perpetual memorial service was closed due to poor management.
What is important for graves
A grave is not only a place to store the remains, but also a place where the people left behind face the deceased.
According to Mr. Otani, for those who are worried about the inheritance of the grave, for example, there are graves that can be used for 30 years and can be renewed if there is an inheritor, and if not, the remains can be transferred to a common grave.
The desire to mourn family and friends who have passed away has always changed.
What kind of grave do you want to face your loved ones in?