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High-tech mausoleum offers low-cost memories

Written by DeadGirl
Saturday, 01 April 2006
The Yomiuri Shimbun A unique mausoleum that features a tombstone with a built-in screen that can display photographs of the life of the deceased has been completed in a Tokyo cemetery. The Shoten mausoleum in Sugamo Heiwa Reien cemetery in Toshima Ward can house up to 8,000 sets of ashes. The Ryugenzan-kudokuin temple, which belongs to the Buddhist Shingon sect and manages the cemetery, will commemorate the deceased enshrined in the mausoleum. Being interred in the mausoleum costs 250,000 yen, and there are no maintenance and operational costs. The selling point--a 20-inch computer screen--is embedded in a black granite tombstone 130 centimeters high. Visitors to the grave insert magnetic cards issued at the contract signing into a card reader beside the screen. Slow music starts, followed by generic images of the four seasons, such as cherry blossoms in full bloom in spring and fireworks in summer. The screen then displays the deceased person's name, posthumous Buddhist name, date of birth and death, and finally photos of the deceased when they were alive. Screening time is limited to about 90 seconds to avoid keeping other visitors waiting. The mausoleum is the brainchild of Nyokai Matsushima, director of LiSS System, a nonprofit organization that is entrusted to handle wills. "The mausoleum is shared by many, but each visitor can feel a personal connection with a loved one as if they were visiting a family tomb. The cost of been interred in a mausoleum is lower than a family tomb so we took advantage of that," Matsushima said. Indeed, demand for mausoleums is increasing because of the growth of the nuclear family, the increase in one-person households and the lower cost. For temples and cemeteries, mausoleums have the advantage of allowing them to sell more tombs in a limited space. In most cases, the deceased in mausoleums can be commemorated in perpetuity--as long as the temple does not close. A survey by a private group showed about 500 new mausoleums have been set up across the country in the past decade. Masao Fujii, professor emeritus of Taisho University, who heads the Japan Association for Bioethics, said the high-tech mausoleum was a good idea. "Mausoleums originally started in Japan as a way to commemorate those who had no family and had lost contact with friends. I think this project is an interesting attempt to commemorate the deceased personally, even in a shared tomb," Fujii said. (Mar. 21, 2006) http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20060321TDY18005.htm

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Taphophilia?

taphophilia (taf′ō-fil′ē-ă)

ORIGIN:
From the Greek words taphos, meaning "tomb" or "sepulcher" and philia, meaning "attraction or affinity to something, in particular the love or obsession with something"

DEFINITION: 1. An excessive interest in graves and cemeteries. 2. A love or fondness for funerals, graves, and cemeteries. 3. In psychiatry, a morbid attraction to graves and cemeteries