“Responsibilities” for post-mortem procedures What is the new business of a funeral company 15:18 on February 21

When an estranged family dies, only one bereaved remains. Can I do it alone if I am asked to dispose of my property? I want someone to help. Such consultations are now being sent to funeral companies one after another. A funeral company in Fukuoka has started a business in which all procedures such as disposal of property are undertaken on behalf of bereaved families. The job of a funeral company that is changing as society changes. We covered the actual situation. (Saki Onishi, Fukuoka Broadcasting Reporter)

A man who died of "loneliness"

In December last year, a 64-year-old man died in Dazaifu City, Fukuoka Prefecture. A man who has lived with more than 10 cats. When the NHK interview crew visited the room, countless empty boxes of food, cigarette butts, and scattered garbage remained.

The man's home was owned by the owner and required a series of funerals, as well as procedures and disposals such as inheritance, demolition and sale of land and buildings.

Elder brother who was estranged for more than 10 years "I can not do anything alone"

The deceased man was unmarried and the only family left was his elderly brother, living in Nagasaki Prefecture. The man says he has been out of communication with his brother for over 10 years. The brother, who was suddenly notified by the police about his brother's death, told the interviewer, "It's all a first time procedure, it is a strange land for me living in Nagasaki, and I come to Fukuoka many times because I am old. I couldn't do it, and I didn't really know what to ask any vendor, so I was really in trouble. "

In such cases, if the bereaved family is unable to do anything, and if they leave procedures such as disposal of property as well as funerals, the government can substitute for cremation and burial by law. And there are situations where vacant houses continue to increase. Under such circumstances, his brother consulted with a "funeral company."

What is the job of a funeral company?

A funeral company "Tengokusha" in Fukuoka City. The company, which had been receiving increasing requests from bereaved families, decided to commercialize a service that supports the disposal of real estate after death.

Upon commercialization, the company obtained a license for the residential land and building transaction business. Mr. Hirotaka Executive, who was in charge, also attended a vocational school and personally acquired the qualification of a residential land and building dealer.

Mr. Executive: "Recently, especially around last year, there have been so many inquiries from customers who have finished their funeral that they should do what to do with real estate, and if we have such a high level of trust, we can do it. It ’s the beginning ”

Profit can be secured but "It's difficult to get everything"

The mechanism of commercialization of this funeral company is as follows.

The funeral company first asks a contractor to clean up and clean up her belongings, a house dismantlement, a judicial scrivener for heritage, and a real estate company to sell the land.

Next, the funeral company buys the land from the surviving family and pays the land for the surviving family.

Survivors pay their labor from the proceeds of selling the land, while funeral companies sell the land to real estate companies. Funeral companies make a profit by making the difference between the prices of the land like a brokerage fee.

However, since the purpose is to leave money for the bereaved, it does not lead to great profit. There is also a risk that the funeral company will continue to hold the land if you can buy the land and pay the land for the bereaved, but if you can not sell the land to a third party afterwards.

Once a family went

On the day we interviewed, the work of dismantling the 64-year-old man's house in Dazaifu City, introduced at the beginning, began.

The funeral company's executive will take over the whole thing. We had to discuss the demolition procedure, check the boundaries of the land, and schedule the sale.

While performing his core business of funeral-related work, he will carry out such duties. Asked by the bereaved family, if they refuse, there is no other person in charge and the house is left unoccupied. He says that a sense of mission, rather than a profit, makes him work.

Executive: "I suppose my family was going through these procedures in the past, but I can't do it anymore. It's a bit lonely. Of course, the family has become thinner. But one can clearly see the declining birthrate and the nuclear family. "

How to adjust to the actual situation

The various procedures left after death are traditionally performed by the surviving family. However, the shape of elderly people who are living alone, families who are alienated while living apart, and the shape of their families are changing dramatically. The wrinkled funeral company will eventually reach its limits. I felt that there were still many issues left for the family to think about the future again and how to adjust the social system to the current situation.

Fukuoka Broadcasting Station reporter Saki Onishi Entered the Kumamoto bureau in 2014 and reported on the welfare of the current member and the scene of lonely death