EDDIEWONG

… so says the Japanese (and maybe Chinese). In reality, mourning and grieving lasts much longer.

It is also the time to find somewhere to permanently store Ulala’s ashes. I don’t know much about Japanese/Chinese cultural superstitious things and nor do I really want to. But since I do not live alone, I have to respect the cultural issues here. I think I was told that it is not good to keep ashes at home after this day (bad luck?). I’ve already researched into temples and shrines where pet ashes can be kept but some of the information I do not quite understand therefore will need to confirm. If all is acceptable and understood, I’ll be taking Ulala to one of these places this coming weekend.

And as usual, there are lots of different prices and packages:

Entry level
You pay a one off fee of ¥6,000 and have the ashes scattered amongst other deceased animals and kept there for good.

More luxurious packages
You rent a small compartment on a cabinet/shelf (with glass doors) to store the ashes and urn. You have access to this space whenever you like (to offer a prayer directly in front of the urn, change pic, change flowers, cleaning, etc). These range from ¥15,000 per year to well over ¥50,000. The differences in price take into consideration the following: which temple/shrine, how big of a space needed, location of the cabinet, ceremonies, etc., etc. And if you forget or ignore to renew the annual fee, the ashes will be removed and scattered amongst the rest of the animals (where the cheaper option is).

As you can see, the more luxurious packages could end up to be quite costly if you were to continue for decades. I found somewhere that charges ¥50,000 and can be kept forever. But it is not the compartment storage type mentioned above where you can visit and see the urn at will. I think its something more like: you get to keep the ashes in the urn and it will be stored somewhere along with other urns. Kinda like a mass storage where you will not get access to the urn because it will be on one of a few hundred shelves and maybe right at the back behind a few thousand urns. And the place to offer a prayer is a generic place where everyone else does. So yeah, need to find out more about this. And the ‘forever storage’ claim is kinda not clear. Who knows what their definition of ‘forever’ means (do they really have a place large enough to store ashes forever? For a one off fee of only ¥50,000? Hmmmmmm… ). Also, ceremonies are conducted annually. Sounds like a pretty decent deal to me but like said, need more confirmation…

Will keep you all informed.

PS. And before anyone mentions anything silly about the smoke above the urn, it’s coming from the burning incense.