現在の日本における散骨 ―散骨を選択する人たちを対象とした調査から―

Abstract

The Association for the Promotion of Freedom of Funeral Service executed the first scattering of ashes in Japan in 1991, questioning traditional funeral rites. This dynamic social movement is considered a response to the structural contradictions of the notion of family graves in contemporary Japan. Subsequently, varied types of funeral services began to be accepted in Japan. More than 30 years have passed since the citizens' movement on funerals. New funeral methods such as permanent memorial graves, scattering of ashes, and tree burials are now generally accepted as alternatives to graves previously deemed traditional. In the interim, a major transformation is thought to have occurred in the meaning-making and contexts of funerals. This study attended to the scattering of ashes, one of the diverse new funeral methods that emerged in Japan in the 1990s. It entailed a questionnaire survey of NPOs, temples, companies, and individuals who scatter ashes in the sea and mountains to determine how this practice is currently accepted in Japan. The results revealed that the scattering of ashes, which was initially performed because of the constructive ideas and principles of people who were traditionally buried, is no longer only an option for those in such a position. Today, this practice is increasingly being chosen by those who, for whatever reason, are compelled to relinquish their ancestral graves. Hence, the scattering of ashes has become an option for those who cannot or do not want a grave.