Village Japan. Malcolm Ritchie

fold. "These days we burn the body at the town crematorium. But in the past we did it at the end of your road, where the six Jizō are now. That's where we used to burn the dead of the village.

      "On the funeral eve, all the relations gathered and spent all night together in front of the funerary altar. We dressed the corpse in white with straw sandals on its feet and a rosary in its hand. This is understood to be Kūkai's [Kōbō Daishi] traveling outfit when he journeyed about Japan. The corpse was put into the coffin sitting up, not lying down like these days, and the coffin was shaped like a tub and made of cedar. After the funeral, the body was taken to that place at the end of your road to be burned by the family and their relations. We laid a fire of twigs and put the coffin on top. Then we covered it with rice straw and then pine logs, till the coffin was completely covered with rice straw and logs. We usually started to burn the pyre at four o'clock in the afternoon, and it took all night to completely burn the body." [Four is a number associated with death in Japan because the pronunciation of its character is the same for that which means "death".]

      On the television, Buddhist monks were boarding a plane. "While we were waiting, all the relations were invited back to the house for a meal, which was served on red-lacquered, small, individual tray-tables (akazen). And we ate rice mixed with red beans (akameshi). This is a tradition we still keep. But every so often someone would go back to check the state of the fire and see whether the corpse was burning well or not." He laughed.