“Grave demolition” refers to the process of removing existing graves, clearing the land, and returning it to the land administrator. The exhumed remains are generally reinterred in perpetual care graves or columbariums. In recent years, demand for grave dismantling has increased due to factors such as population concentration in major cities, aging and declining birth rates making it difficult to manage rural cemeteries, and rising rates of lifelong unmarried individuals and declining birth rates leading to a lack of successors to manage graves. Consequently, specialized businesses offer “grave dismantling services” that bundle grave removal, handling administrative procedures for reinterment permits, and arranging reinterment locations. For example, one company operates under the registered trademark “Grave Closure SOS” (Trademark Registration No. 5958751).
https://www.bishoo.co.jp/hakajimai_sos.html
Another company has patented and registered an invention called the “Remains Consolidation System” (Patent Publication No. 7370611). This system involves, upon the death of the final inheritor, reburying the remains of the final inheritor and specified relatives within a defined scope into a consolidated grave and conducting memorial services for a set period. The patent specification states: “Use of this system incurs necessary operational costs. Regarding these costs, it is conceivable that the administrator could receive the necessary amount from the final inheritor’s estate (inherited property) after their death. However, complications in receiving these costs are also anticipated due to factors like the existence of heirs. Therefore, the optimal approach is for all necessary expenses to be paid at the start of system usage.”
Grave closure is also a theme I must resolve in my own future life. (Conan)
※ The photo is unrelated to the text.
