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Talk about a non-standard funerary practice (that may become) available to Canadians?
Hum, hum. Well, it is no easy task for me since the local practices are unfamiliar to me.
When we said that the most common ones here were cremation and inhumation, I immediately thought of that *#$%^@ in Japan.
"But what is *#$%^@ ???"
Good question! It's that thingy I saw on TV many years ago without remembering its name. But after a few hours, jumping from French to English websites and vice versa, I finally re-found
AUTOMATED MAUSOLEUMS!!!
Automated mausoleums? Yes, indeed. Sorry to disappoint you if you were expecting me to talk about Schwarzy.
So what are they? They are buildings devoted to the mass storage of urns and the visits of the survivors to the deceased.
Among the precursors: Nichiryoku Company (based in Tokyo, Japan). The company owns a few buildings in Japan. One building can store around 9,000 urns.
When a person wants to visit the loved one, (s)he just stands in a private prayer area, uses his/her RFID card (Radio-Frequency IDentification card aka "magical card") and abracadabra, the urn of the deceased one appears in front of him/her.
The same process is required if the visitor wants the urn to return back to its place in the vault of the several-story columbarium.
Why such practice?
1) It is a well-known fact that Japan is a very small island for that many people, especially in the cities. So the lack of space requires new measures to store the remains;
2) The Japanese are less willing to spend enormous amount in funerals (which can be understandable) regarding the limited choice they have for funerals without forgetting the high standard of living (from food to housing, including those high-tech and luxury products they are so fond of);
3) Convenience: no time loss in trying to find a grave in the alleys of a cemetery AND it is a 24/7 service!
Despite it's technological aspect, Japanese people can still keep their long-practiced tradition of cremation.
Then, if you have more money to spend, the company will be glad to add this little (scary) extra which consist in "communicating" with the dead (I could not find a video in English, but only in Japanese. Sorry for that).
Apparently, some Asian countries like China or Singapore are imitating their neighbor for almost the same reasons.
If you want some more information, here is the original website of the company. I know, this is not in English. But maybe you have that function like me on Google Chrome: you just click on the right button of your mouse and choose "Translate to English" for each page.
http://www.nichiryoku.co.jp/dounai/index.html
