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28 may 2012

A Transition of Japanese Funeral Ceremonies during the years 1921-1977 in the Perfecture of Aichi
Hariyadi Budi Susanto

Funeral Ceremonies in Japan have undergone various transitions during the twenty first century. This article looks at the changes in funeral ceremony during the years 1921-1977 in the Aichi prefecture by examining specific funeral practices from view of different kinds and content of funeral ceremonies. By looking at the trends of decreases in jitaku syukkan and the increases of shikijo syukkan, its shows the least time and a place that can be spent by social communities to conduct the funeral ceremony. Funeral companies played a significant role in replacing the task of community funerals by Kumi society , while maintaining the needs of the community that tends to become a free funeral ceremony

Keywords : funeral ceremony transition kind of funeral content of ceremonyindustrialization and freedom of funeral

1. Introduction Social and cultural changes that emerged with the transition from the community funeral by Kumi society1 to the commercial ceremony2 by funeral company have been analyzed by Suzuki Hikaru in her dissertation. Furthermore she concluded that the transition from community rituals to commercial ceremonies did not appear as a polar opposition, but as part of the process of modernizing ( Suzuki Hikaru, 2000 ). The study in changes of the funeral ceremony is also showed by Kenji Mori (2010; 146), who talked about the process of the Kojinka () in funeral ceremony to become more free. There is a tendency to be more flexible in deciding what the customer wishes in their funeral ceremony. According to him, Kojinka is associated with capitalism, where capital (money) is most important, so if there is money involved they can do anything without having to depend on anyone else. Capitalist money system has also entered in the funeral business. Furthermore, Kenji (ibid;154) stated that Kojinka also entered in the area of workers families, where in the capitalist system the

Kumi society is a community of Japanese society especially in village area before the World War II. When a member of this community is dead, all of member responsible to conduct a funeral ceremony. Every member do it as volunteer, and they dont receave money. And in the next time every member receave service from community when one of they family dead. It is look reciproxly relationship (Hikaru,2000 ;p4) The commercial ceremony is the society that all of the task of every member replace by the funeral company and every member pay to this company.