# Japan's Expensive Funerals Shift Traditions

> Japan's rising funeral costs and low birth rates force families to rethink ancestral burial practices.
- Title: Japan's Expensive Funerals Shift Traditions · The Conversation
- Summary: Japan's rising funeral costs and low birth rates force families to rethink ancestral burial practices. Japan's high funeral and grave costs, driven by…
- Keywords: japan, funeral costs, birth rate decline, traditional burials, cremation, jumokusō, hakajimai, bone buddhas, nōkotsudō, science, ideas, Japan's
- Source: The Conversation — https://theconversation.com/japans-expensive-funerals-and-declining-birth-rates-are-transforming-ancestral-traditions-292861
- Author: Mimi Hanaoka
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: japan, funeral costs, birth rate decline, traditional burials, cremation, jumokusō, hakajimai, bone buddhas, nōkotsudō, science, ideas
## Japan's Funeral Crisis
Japan's funeral costs average 1.2 million yen (US$7,600), one-quarter of an average worker's annual salary.
## Declining Birth Rates
Japan's falling birth rate means fewer people to maintain family graves and pay funeral costs.
## Traditional Burial System
For generations, Japanese funerals relied on family, community networks, and Buddhist temples.
## Cremation and Burial Process
Cremation is standard for 99.7%-99.9% of Japanese burials, with bones later placed in urns and graves.
## Post-Death Rituals
Buddhist rituals continue weekly for 49 days, then periodically until the third death anniversary.
## Grave Costs
A grave, plot and cemetery-use fees cost 1.52 million yen (close to $10,000), 60% of an average worker's annual salary.
## Annual Maintenance Fees
Descendants pay less than $40 yearly for cemetery land maintenance and rituals.
## Tree Burials
Tree burials (jumokusō) account for 40% of new graves, with bones buried in or around trees.
## Forest Type Burials
Tokyo cemeteries offer 'Forest Type' burials with no annual fees, reserving spots while alive.
## Bone Buddhas
Bone buddhas use cremated remains to create statues of Amida Buddha, a rare tradition.
## Hakajimai Practice
Hakajimai moves urns from family graves to communal ossuaries, ending family responsibilities.
## Modern Adaptations
Japan's changing burial practices help families balance tradition with modern financial pressures.
## Key takeaway

Japan's high funeral and grave costs, driven by declining birth rates, are making traditional burial practices unsustainable for families.