Always Something of Interest in Chomin Hall

I work in a large spread out public building called Chomin Hall of which the Board of Education takes up only a small fraction. To readers of my blog that have visited Shikaoi, this will all make perfect sense. I love working here because out the door there is always something of interest going on in the public spaces of the building. Today is a perfect example; the building is crawling with children because those entering grade one next year are required to have a health check. (From the din I can hear at my desk I can tell everyone's lungs are healthy.) Last week the news I couldn't share was the death of a previous Shikaoi mayor. I didn't recognize the name but I wanted to give the news a chance to travel to Stony Plain ahead of my post.

This offers the perfect opportunity to talk about some Japanese customs surrounding death. In Japanese funerals only two things are held as universal; the funeral is always Buddhist and two, the body is always cremated, which makes sense in a country as populated as Japan. I appreciate how the Japanese are not so uptight about sacredness and spirituality. Ringing cell phones still cross the line, but taking pictures, walking around, or making a grocery list is not considered high treason, and no one will be reincarnated as an ant as nothing is infringed upon or disrespected.

The first thing I learned about Japanese funerals was at the dinner table. There are few behaviours in Japan that will stop conversation, one being if you pass an item chopstick to chopstick. Never ever do this. People's jaws will drop, some might push back from the table in horror, a sign or silent scream is not out of the question. The reason is to be found in the cremation process; afterward pieces of bone left intact are collected by the use of chopsticks and only during this process is it permissible to pass something chopstick to chopstick.

New Years, which is coming up, is normally very festive, with many visitors and special New Years' postcards, however, if a close relative passes in the preceding year, the family is considered in mourning and must be left alone, they don't even go to the temple on New Years.

The Japanese wake and funeral are very similar. Both times, a Sutra is read by a Buddhist monk, the only difference being that at the funeral the deceased is given a new Buddhist name. This is so the deceased will not return when their name is called. At some point the attendees walk to the front and light incense. Beyond this, the traditions surrounding Buddhist funerals are numerous, varied and arcane, following an individual's wishes, which is sometimes dictated by family tradition. The photograph shows the setup for a very large public wake previous to the monks being seated. The funeral took place in the same space the day after. It was a romantic scene leaving work later, Buddhist chanting could be heard throughout the building and the scent of incense still hung in the air the following day.