Far East - Scattering Ashes

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Ashes of thousands of unclaimed Japanese WWII civilian casualities

Japan has a legacy of thousands of set of unclaimed ashes that have remained stored in temples around the country since the end of WWII, despite the person being identified. The families of more than 7,400 people have yet to claim ashes stored in eight cities across Japan, many of these victims died in US…

Iconic Buddhist monk’s cremation relics go on display

The Rosemead Buddhist temple in Los Angles is opening its door to the public, displaying a huge collection of relics. This year the collection has even more artefacts, perhaps the most notable of its new relics from the Venerable Thich Quang Duc. The Buddhist monk who in 1963 in south Vietnam set fire to…

Tibetan Buddhist thinking may not favour water burials for ashes

I have often thought that the more you read the less you really know, this I often feel when considering the stances of the various world religions and subdivisions thereof. Tibetan Bhuddiam has a slightly different take on many aspects of doctrine compared to other forms of Buddhism. Mr Khenpo Karma Tharchin Rinpoche, a senior lama of…

Make your own ashes: Japanese bone crushing apparatus for rent

Now here’s a franchise opportunity you are unlikely to see on Dragons Den: Rental of bone crushing apparatus. The Japanese tradition is to cremate and then place the bones of the loved one in an urn, I have already posted on this – Japanese cremation. Normally what happens is for the urn to be…

Japanese Emperor and Empress choose cremation

The Japanese emperor and empress plan to break from tradition when they die and have chosen to be cremated (burial has been the norm for recent generations) and to have a more modest mausoleum than their ancestors. This is a big deal in Japan, the Japanese tend to by fairly conservative (sorry for the sweeping…

Japanese cremation ashes rituals: Kotsuage and Bunkotsu

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Japanese culture around the collection and burial of cremation ashes is highly ritualised. Shinotism, a ‘religion’ closely associated with Buddhism is observed in Japan and ancestral worship is central to this. The funeral ritual has twenty stages and there are over 20 procedures, we are mainly interested in two of these: Kotsuage which is…

Repatriation Abroad Ashes Cremated Remains Sending

Repatriation of ashes or sending ashes abroad

Sending ashes abroad or repatriating them can be a difficult problem, few couriers are willing to handle them, mainly due to the fact that they are beyond value to a loved one – so how could you put a price on that? The second issue is the paperwork – every country seems to have…

Can you send cremation ashes in the post?

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Royal Mail Policy on sending Ashes in the post You cannot send the whole amount of cremated human remains / cremation ashes in the post. You can however send up to 50g of ashes. The Post Office prohibits the full amount being sent either: nationally via Royal Mail and Parcelforce and internationally through Parcelforce Worldwide UK, which includes mail…

Malaysian Religious organisation seizes cremation ashes

Here we have first case I that I have read about, where someone’s ashes have been seized. Mrs M Nagamah passed away on the 14 August and “According to her family, she lived her life as a Hindu and died a Hindu. They were preparing to give her a Hindu funeral,” said Hindu Rights…

Nepal: Scattering cremation ashes 13 day ceremony

The Nepali Congress has decided to scatter the ashes of their former Prime Minister in every one of the thirteen districts in a thirteen day ritual. Krishna Prasad Bhattarai, a Hindu, who became Nepal’s first Prime Minister died at the age 87 of after multiple organ failure. In Nepal that the scattering of ashes is fundamental part of…

Japanese companies make money from people’s cremation ashes

In Japan regulators are looking into the appropriate disposal of cremated ash remains. Apparently some companies are tendering to dispose of persons cremation ashes for one Yen each (or about 1 pence!). What do they mean don’t people take their ashes back? Well some do and some don’t it would seem bit like in…

Not allowed alongside fallen comrades…

A French General asked for his funeral ashes to be scattered alongside those of his fallen comrades in Vietnam. General Marcel Bigeard, one of France’s most decorated soldiers, died last month, and this was his wish. However Vietnamese government has turned down a request to scatter the ashes at the site of a battle…

Scattering ashes database! record where you scattered

Here is something from the States – a scattering ashes database, they will be offering free searchable database allows you to record the name, date of death and the location of where the ashes of your loved one where scattered. The good news for us this side of the Pond is that you do…

Sir Edmund Hilary

Sir Edmund Hilary, the first westerner to climb mount Everest wanted to have half his ashes strewn on the top of the mountain. However the Buddhist lamas decided that having his cremated remains there might bring bad luck and create a precedent for similar ceremonies. So it was decided that the ashes should be interned…