When I Die: Inside Japan's Death Industry | 101 East

In Japan, funerals are big business. With an ageing population and more than a million deaths in the country last year, finding a final resting place can be difficult and expensive. But the funeral industry is stepping up to the challenge, finding innovative ways to send their clients into the afterlife. I'm Steve Chao. On this episode of 101 East, we take a look at how Japan says its final goodbyes. Yuichi Ito and his wife Sumiko spend weekends on their hobby farm in an idyllic part of central Japan. It's so refreshing being out here, and I'm quite obsessed with nature. We live in a city where it's very stressful. You can plant saplings, water them, and soon you can eat them. The Itos live life to the full, but both of them are obsessed with what will happen when they die. You see, the Itos don't have kids. In modern Japan, there's more childless couples and single people than traditional nuclear families. For many Japanese, it makes dealing with death difficult. Normally, when you have a child, he will look after the parents when they die. Because we have no children, we talk about what is going to happen when I retire. We decided that we need to start preparing now. Some people in Japan live until they're 100 years old. You're both in your 40s. Why are you so concerned about finding the right memorial? Some of my friends died in their 20s and 30s. Life expectancy may be long in Japan, but people die young. Times are changing. We've got to adapt. In the past, everyone had a job with an increasing salary, which paid for your funeral. You lived near your family. That doesn't happen anymore. If it did, we wouldn't have to think about shukatsu. Shukatsu is a new phenomenon that the elderly have embraced. It means preparing for the end. And all across Japan, they come in their thousands to funeral expos like this one. Lining up for his first expo, Yuichi is excited. First of all, I'm curious what kind of people are coming here. Also, I heard various kinds of companies are here today, so I'm looking forward to seeing something I'm not expecting. Talking about death used to be taboo in Japan. Now, it's a passionate pursuit. Since the word shukatsu came out, we can now start talking about funerals openly among healthy people. When you are on your deathbed, everyone has that moment when you think about things that really matter. That's what shukatsu means to me. It's an extended time like that moment to contemplate life's important decisions. First up is a one-hour lecture called Writing an Ending Notebook. It's much like a will, but there's a personal aspect as well. You write in detail about your legacy and reflect on your very existence. There was a lot to write down. I've never looked back my past or my childhood really. I learned today that by thinking back how my life had been, I should adjust how I treat myself, my family and people around me. When I get home, I'm going to start writing my ending note. Vendors are here to cash in on an industry worth $5 billion a year. In just a decade, funeral-related companies have quadrupled in Japan. And some of them have innovative ideas. The Ito's have found one company that shoots ashes into space with the help of America's space agency, NASA. And it only costs around $6,000. This year, we've had three launch plans for the space station. The space agency has a lot of people who have made pre-orders. More than 20 people have made pre-orders. Yuichi likes the thought of having his ashes scattered across the galaxy. Without children, I'd worry our stone graves would suffer neglect when we are gone. We wouldn't worry if our ashes were in space. I thought it would be millions of yen, but space is getting closer to us. The space, it is romantic. It's not the ground, not quite the sea. It's interesting. But Sumiko hasn't dismissed the more down-to-earth options. She has her eye on a coffin. One of the most popular booths today. Masumune Kirihara has been helping potential customers of all ages all day. So with some guidance, I decide to give it a try myself. So what do people look for when they're buying a coffin? First, when you get inside the coffin, people look for patterns and check the thickness of the padding. When you try it, many people often imagine what their death is like. They realize their regrets in life. Another reason why people try this coffin, it is said, to extend your life. So what makes this coffin better than that coffin? The padding is better. The embroidery is more colorful. The lid is dome-shaped. And the window is bigger too. This is one weird opportunity to try before you die. Has the death industry in Japan become more commercialized? Too much, perhaps? I'm not sure if commercialized is the right word, but we couldn't display coffins at events like this before. Now we can. It's not to do with money. Instead, it shows people's attitudes are changing. With so much choice, the traditional funeral homes are under threat. 99% of Japanese are cremated. That's where traditional funeral director Satoshi Takeda comes in. We put the coffin here. Then the bereaved family join their hands together in prayer. After that, we'll close this door. The ashes come from the back of the oven. I tell the family where the important body parts are, like the femur and pelvis. Then one family member picks the ashes up with these chopsticks, starting where the feet were. Mr. Takeda and 300 other employees at this funeral company, Kyoto Kokisha, take a traditional approach to commemorating death. Today, the altar is being prepared for an afternoon ceremony. From the flowers to the bamboo decorations, everything has to be perfect. One important aspect of funerals is displaying the family's crest. Our services feature Shinto Buddhist rites. The altar has to be right in the centre. We check to make sure the placement of things is perfectly symmetrical. This funeral company has been in existence since 1938. Their eight funeral halls hold more than 6,000 ceremonies a year. A proper send-off is important in Japanese culture. But it is also expensive. Mr. Takeda thinks it will be even tougher to succeed in the future. Because even supermarkets are offering cheap funeral plans. You see ads on the internet for funerals that cost $80. Outsider companies are providing cheaper and cheaper funerals. I think Japan's ageing problem will burden the funeral business. They'll become simpler because of the cost. So Mr. Takeda is offering some inventive alternatives in the company showroom. You can put the ashes in these bracelets and lockets to honour the memory of your loved one. It only costs $100. It suits those who have to travel a lot for work and can't pray at the family temple. Burying ashes in a graveyard is now a luxury. The country is running out of space for the dead. And that's driving up the cost of burial. Take this city cemetery for example. The average price for a plot of land, not the headstone, just the plot of land, is at least $40,000. It's only going to get worse. 1.2 million people died in Japan last year. That figure will keep rising until 2042. The ageing population is forcing Japan's old ways to change. And those who house the dead realise they have to adapt. Inside this modern building is a skyscraper graveyard. Priest Ohora runs it. He says old temples usually store 100 urns and are private. But this temple welcomes anyone and everyone. How many urns are there in this building right now? We can accept 10,000 urns. This temple was only completed last year. It only has 10% occupancy so far. On every floor is a row of high-tech crypts. To visit, you swipe your ID card, which prompts robotic arms to retrieve the family urn from the basement. Then a photo of your loved one appears. The urn is in this box. One box can hold one to eight urns. These new temples are getting so popular in Japan that many people are closing their ancestral graves in the countryside and storing their ashes here. One married couple did it because their children lived in the city and never came to visit them out there. When they die, they hope their children will come to worship them here. Just down the road, there's another mega high-tech family crypt with plenty of space for the departed. Wow, it's quite impressive. There's over 2,000 Buddha statues in this temple. So we've got to find out just where our urn is. I think it's that blinking one over there. Each family urn is stored directly behind the wall where the Buddha flashes. Family members can then pray towards it because they believe the soul of the departed is in the Buddha. Priest Daito's old temple was only supported by 13 families. After turning it into a modern mausoleum, he has bookings for memorials every day. Today, the anniversary of a man's death is being commemorated by his wife and daughter. There's no shortage of prayers, holiness and reverence. It's quite beautiful. The big temples have 100 families supporting them but I know many small temples with financial difficulties. I think more and more temples who keep the old methods will shut down if they can't secure an income through funerals. I think memorial services here don't really connect people with their religion. They just think it's appropriate to pay for a priest who chants some prayer they don't understand. Religion is not a service you pay for. Some of the things we've seen so far are unique to say the least but Japan is very much a conservative country and I'm interested to hear what some of the more traditional voices have to say about the changing times. Priest Teramai runs a small traditional temple. He says most temples no funerals aren't a guaranteed income anymore. He keeps his doors open by running tea and meditation sessions for tourists. I wonder if the modern temples you saw the other day really adhere to Buddhist values. I don't think doing memorials for your ancestors means it's a Buddhist celebration. Japan has a very strange understanding of what death is. You could call it funeral Buddhism. Some people believe Buddhism is only for funerals but that's wrong. When it comes to society's attitudes he is surprisingly pragmatic. I wonder whether it's truly bad for Buddhism. Maybe it's time to change your way of thinking. For me it's not important to keep the old historical temples open. That can't be helped in Japan. The most important issue is how Buddhism as a religion continues. Traditional or high-tech? Shooting into space or interred in ancestral sites? There's now so much choice that finding the perfect resting place in Japan can seem overwhelming. Luckily there's a club on hand to help make that final decision. With branches across Japan it's called the Ending Centre. This weekend they are holding grave tours at a local cemetery for baby boomers and the elderly. Sociologist Haruo Inoue runs the Ending Centre. She wants them to consider one more option. A new way of burial called Jumokuso. It's where several families are buried together under a cherry blossom tree. Jumokuso conserves space in our towns and many people can inhabit the one grave space. That's suitable for the future society because gravestones and temples have become meaningless to many people. Haruo believes tree burials are a viable solution for the challenges facing Japan. This is one of their finished plots where 30 people are buried. It's quiet, peaceful and only costs $2,000 per person. You don't need to pay extra money to maintain the grave. You enter the soil and go back to nature without troubling anyone. No one has to maintain the graves. That's why our service is becoming more popular. Those who will be sharing a plot get to know each other before the inevitable through activities organised by the Ending Centre. We provide this service not as a traditional undertaker or a temple. We're a member of a family. We call them Hakatomo which means grave friends. It's a cooperative like an apartment building. Each person or family has a registered section of the plot. When someone on the plot dies everyone on the plot helps at the memorial. They have dinner parties, yoga, calligraphy even photo sessions. Haruyo is on hand to help. We are taking portraits for the funeral when they die. She advises them to smile and not be solo. The key is to be yourself. Photo shoots like these are popular across Japan. Another way people are taking ownership of their own deaths. People come to sessions like this just once. Others come every year. But it's not because they think they will die soon. They just want a more up-to-date photo in their records every year so that they have the latest photo when it happens. Japan is often seen as a culturally traditional country adhering to age-old customs. But when it comes to the final rituals of life there's no doubt things are changing. When I die I'd like to rest under the cherry blossoms in a Jumakuso grave and go back to the soil. Thank you. Perhaps it's driven by social change, economic pressure or just the rise of the individual. The bottom line is now everyone in Japan is making their own choice about their final goodbye. Old family funeral businesses are no longer the only option. Not even, it seems, for those who work there. When I die I'd like to have a funeral with just families and friends. I don't think I'll have a funeral held here. So I'd like to have a funeral without imposing a load on a bereaved family. The Ito's are still exploring. They don't know yet what kind of funeral they want. Their plan for now is to stay fit and active to give them more time to decide. When I die I know I want all my friends to come and enjoy themselves. The family funerals we've had in the past have been full of relatives and loved ones. The local priest was often jovial. I want my funeral to be a relaxed one, not so formal one. Their journey continues. But it's better than ignoring death. The Ito's want to get it right. After all, you only die once.