Japan opens world’s first drive-through funeral service

Demonstration of the funeral drive-in service in Ueda, Japan
Demonstration of the funeral drive-in service in Ueda, Japan Credit: Androniki Christodoulou for the Telegraph 

An illuminated sign switches to “go” and a car inches forward to draw level with a counter cut into the wall of a white one-storey building.

The driver lowers the window and is greeted by a smiling woman framed in the hatch. 

But instead of ordering a cheeseburger and fries, he clasps his hands in prayer before leaning over to sign his name on a tablet computer and raising a pinch of ceremonial incense offered by the smartly dressed attendant to his forehead.

Welcome to the 21st century world of funerals in Japan.

This week, a company in Ueda, a small sleepy city famed for its apples and peaches in the mountains of central Nagano prefecture, launched what they claim is the world’s first funeral drive-through service.

In a country with a shrinking population, where the death rate far outstrips the birth rate, the new service economises the sometimes lengthy but profoundly important ritual of easing the dead into the next world.

It enables the elderly and immobile to see off their close friends and family from the comfort of their cars, streamlining what can be a service running for several hours into a simple - and less physically taxing - affair lasting just minutes.

The service's managing director Tetsuo Kubota at the funeral parlour
The service's managing director Tetsuo Kubota at the funeral parlour Credit: Androniki Christodoulou for the Telegraph 

The new funeral parlour – which stands where there were rice fields only months earlier – contains an airy network of rooms with traditional sliding screens, aromatic tatami mat floors and Buddhist altars bursting with flowers and exotic fruits.

But for those who are less able to withstand the rigours of a traditional ceremony the drive-through counter is fitted with cameras and sensors that beam the attendees' faces onto two large screens in the main hall in which the bereaved family sit.

As the mourners pass in their cars the family inside, the host of the ceremony and other more able funeralgoers are able to monitor the drive-through visitors.

Among the first to sign up for their own funerals to take place at the new venue were Yoshiko Kodama and her husband Iwao, an efficiently forward-planning local couple, both 69, who live a 15-minute walk away.

Wearing pearls as elegant as the blue and silver wallpaper of the surrounding funeral room, Mrs Kodama explained: “This will make things so much easier for elderly people who cannot attend funerals because they are unwell or immobile.”

A man bows as he reserves ashes of a family member
A man bows as he reserves ashes of a family member Credit: Androniki Christodoulou for the Telegraph 

With sparkling eyes, she added: “We absolutely love it. It makes me feel safe and secure. Funerals are changing in Japan. They used to be in small dark rooms and filled with heavy sadness. But this kind of place makes it less sad and more hopeful.”

The new drive-through service is one of a myriad of high-tech innovations emerging in Japan’s world of funerals, a fast-growing so-called “silver industry” whose evolution is being shaped by the nation’s rapidly aging population.

There are humanoid robots programmed to conduct funeral services, Buddhist priests available to hire via Amazon and a growing number of high-tech multi-storey cremation buildings with mourners paying respects via smartphone apps.

Already 27.3 per cent of the 127-million strong population are aged 65 or over, with the nation soon to become the world’s first “ultra aged” country, defined by 28 per cent of a population being over 65.

It is already considered a “super aged” country - with only Italy and Germany - where at least one in five people are over 65.

Yoshiko and Iwao Kodama have already made arrangements for their funerals
Yoshiko and Iwao Kodama have already made arrangements for their funerals Credit: Androniki Christodoulou for the Telegraph 

A booming death rate – which according to some estimates will soar to 1.53 million a year by 2025 - will likely further fuel further innovations in the funeral industry which was estimated by Yano Research Institute to be worth nearly 1,794 billion yen (£11.9 billion) in 2016.

The new drive-through facility in the city of Ueda – where over-65s already account for 29 per cent of its 157,000 population – was pioneered by Aishoden, a funeral company dating back to 1956 which operates at 51 sites across five prefectures. 

The building, which spans around 530 square metres, is designed to accommodate one funeral a day, with prices ranging from 240,000 yen (£1,594) to 10,000,000 yen (£66,400) for the top luxury option.

“We opened this facility because we know that there will be a growing number of funerals here and innovation is very important in terms of responding to customers’ needs,” said Tetsuo Kubota, managing director.

“People are also looking for more sophistication in funerals.” Kenji Takehara, a local business consultant who came up with the idea, added: “I saw some elderly people really struggling to get to funerals and finding it hard to get out of the car. That’s why I thought this would be a good idea. A drive-through service means that everyone can attend funerals.”

Demonstration of the funeral drive-in service. Guests can register via this tablet
Demonstration of the funeral drive-in service. Guests can register via this tablet Credit: Androniki Christodoulou for the Telegraph 

Shifting family structures as well as the ageing demographic are among factors defining Japan’s death-related businesses, according to Professor Anne Allison, who specialises in Japanese cultural anthropology at Duke University in the United States.

“The population is aging, elderly Japanese are living longer, fewer Japanese are getting married, coupling, having sex, or bearing children and in Japan’s ‘mass death society,’ more die every year than get born,” she explained.

“But it’s not only ‘high aging-low birth rate’ demographics - more and more Japanese are now residing alone. Increasingly, Japanese feel self-responsible for how they manage their lives as well as their deaths.”

She added: “There are many innovations in the funeral industry that are taking off. Convenience, a good price and some modicum of ritual seem key here. And the Japanese are not hostile to technology.”

For Mrs Kodama, the new drive-through service is not only a future place of rest for her and her husband, but also a welcome addition to local life: “This new place will make people feel supported in the community. It’s important for everyone to be able to say goodbye to the deceased.”

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