The Characteristics of Japanese Concepts and Attitudes with Regard to Human Remains

Abstract

In order to understand Japanese people’s concepts and attitudes regarding a dead body we must first know how they dispose of a dead body and why they do it in that particular way. Present day Japanese use cremation in more than 90 percent of deaths. However, it has been only since the Second World War that more than 70 percent of the dead have been cremated. During the Tokugawa period cremation was employed only by the people of the Jodo-shinshu Buddhist sect, and even in this sect cremation did not always take place. The usual method of disposal was burial, except in Kyoto district, which used to be the capital of Japan, with a high population density since the 10th century. During the second half of the nineteenth century cholera epidemics killed almost a million Japanese and after the epidemics the custom of cremation spread widely because of the large number of people dying during such a short period and the new awareness among them of the dangers of infection.