VOX POPULI: Trees of life after death cut grave shortages

Sometimes, a sight that is too beautiful to behold can trigger disturbing thoughts. "Sakura no Ki no Shita niwa" (Under a cherry tree), a short story by Motojiro Kajii (1901-1932), begins with these lines: "There's a corpse buried under every cherry tree! You can bet on it. Why? Because how else can you explain the unbelievable magnificence of cherry blossoms in bloom?"

There actually is such a thing as "tree burial," in which the deceased is laid to rest under a living tree rather than a gravestone. This may sound a bit mystical but, when one pictures the dead person's vestigial "energy" flowing up the tree trunk to bring forth lush green leaves and flowers or fruit, one comes to appreciate the changes of the seasons with fond feelings. I imagine that the younger the person who died, the more vigorously the tree above will grow.

In the sense that jumokuso (tree burial) is about returning a person to Nature at death, it is similar in spirit to the scattering of ashes. In Japan, tree burial began about 10 years ago at a temple in Iwate Prefecture and gradually spread to private cemeteries around the nation. Tokyo, where there is still a chronic shortage of burial grounds, is said to be planning to start the practice at its public cemeteries in a few years.

Tokyoites prefer public cemeteries to private ones because the public plots are more affordable. When Tokyo announced vacancies in its public graveyards in the current fiscal year, the number of applicants reportedly outnumbered the available plots by 12 to 1 on average. The city is said to require 20,000 new burial plots every year, but only 30 percent of this need is met by the public and private sectors combined. If the ashes of several people could be interred around a single tree, this would more efficiently utilize the land available and also contribute to the greening of the nation's capital.

People with no heirs are on the increase in the big cities, and many graves in the provinces are not being tended. Some people just don't want to be buried in their ancestral graves. To anyone who finds the traditional custom of ancestral grave maintenance too burdensome, it must be a relief to be able to commend the soul of their beloved to a tree, and ultimately to the planet Earth.

There is little meaning in visiting a grave and clasping one's hands in prayer if this is done merely for the sake of formality. What matters is how one feels about the person who has passed away, rather than the motions that one goes through or the appearance of the grave marker.

There is also the option of not having a grave at all. I believe this diversification in the way the dead are laid to rest is completely natural. Everyone should be free to remember the dead in the way that they choose.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Jan. 22

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Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.