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The story
The Yomiuri Shimbun reported on subscription services for Buddhist altars and graves. Citing anxiety over who will inherit them and the burden of upkeep, a system offering monthly flat-rate plans has emerged. On 5ch’s Business News+ thread, some voices supported simpler forms of memorial such as “an unclaimed communal grave is enough” or “just scatter the ashes at sea,” while others questioned the custom of having a butsudan or grave at all, or pointed to the cost, saying “about 2,700 yen a month is too expensive — just buy a cheap altar instead.” Some also voiced concern about facilities offering “eternal memorial services” going bankrupt and leaving remains in limbo.
Naho Yako
Subscription (flat-fee) services have appeared for Buddhist altars and graves — items once taken for granted as things passed down from generation to generation, to children and grandchildren.
They are drawing attention from people who still want to honor their ancestors but wish to avoid the anxiety of passing them on and the burden of upkeep. (Naho Yako)
Source: yomiuri.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
You'll be remembered far longer than if you count on blood relatives.
In reality there's no such guarantee lol
Haven't you ever seen a derelict temple or religious facility?
Once there's no descendant left who can keep paying,
just give me a token send-off and move me to a communal grave.
It's nothing but calcium phosphate anyway.
Just put me out as burnable trash, that'll do.
The old, elaborate ones just get thrown out.
I get it though — a communal grave there is safe forever unless Tokyo gets burned to the ground again.
This is probably just the industry's desperate move to hang on somehow, but the shift away from funerals, altars, and graves altogether isn't going to slow down.
Way too expensive. Just buy a cheap one.
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Taken to the extreme, you don't even need a butsudan.
Just put the memorial tablet and a photo on any old stand, a wall niche, or a low chest of drawers, with a cup of water.
That predatory donation (o-fuse) system is awful too.
Who exactly are these monks looking out for anyway?
The money?
Though really, people just want to keep that million yen for themselves.
Even 10,000 yen should be spent carefully, let alone a million.
Several hundred thousand yen for a posthumous Buddhist name (kaimyo)? That's insane.
But it's not free. And nothing is scarier than 'free.'
At the end of the day, traditional municipal or temple graveyards — including through relocations and consolidations — tend to stay stable over the long haul.
For simple, reliable handling of a grave and remains, an ordinary grave or ossuary is the safe bet.
A temple in the middle of the city might demand a lot from its parishioners, but if it's not that kind of temple, the financial burden is usually reasonable.
The greed of thinking the inheritance is 'mine' is way too strong.
You should just spend it on the deceased instead.
Background and Key Points of This Discussion
Against the backdrop of a shrinking, aging population and the concentration of people in urban areas, more and more households are finding it difficult to pass down a large butsudan or spacious grave from generation to generation. Living in an apartment leaves little room for an altar to begin with, and grave upkeep tends to become a burden for children and grandchildren living far away. Subscription-style services were born out of these circumstances, with the appeal being the convenience of outsourcing management for a flat monthly fee. On the other hand, “eternal memorial” plans and ossuaries are systems that depend on the financial health of the operating company, and critics point out the risk that if an operator withdraws or goes bankrupt, the handling of the remains can be left in limbo. Opinions on the thread were split between those supporting simple forms of memorial like communal burial or scattering ashes at sea, and those questioning the pricing and long-term sustainability of these arrangements. Rather than one side being simply right, the discussion reflected how the form of memorial one should choose is diversifying along with family structure and financial circumstances.
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Business News+) thread “Subscriptions for butsudan and graves — amid voices saying ‘can’t afford to buy one’ and ‘anxious about who will inherit it’… reducing the burden of upkeep with a flat monthly fee.”
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