Analysis of Japanese Funeral Culture Through the Movie 'Departures'

Orpheus must have been a great musician. Even Hades, the dreadful god of death, was impressed by his playing and allowed him to bring back his wife, when Orpehus went to underworld to revive her. However, there was one condition that Orpheus must not see her face before they reach the earth. It failed, and the second chance was never given to him. 

There are many similar stories to this sad legend over the world. The Japanese myth of Izanagi and Izanami also shares the same desire. Ancient people also knew that it is impossible to bring back the dead, as no one can see any of their beloved ones in myths was able to come back. Instead of heading to the underworld, people found a proper way to say good bye to the decreased. 

For example, in Tibet, people throw the dead into the mountain so the eagles eat the corpses. It may seem to be a barbaric custom for strangers. However, actually this sky burial shows generosity of the dead, since they devote their body to the living things until the very last. By this funeral, they are becoming the part of nature once again. The way of funeral is various. But the fundamental reason, to mourn the dead is same for every culture. 

The movie ‘Departures’[1], portrays the Japanese funeral practices with the fascinating winter sceneries of Japan and the full rich tone of cello. Daigo is the main character who turned cellist into undertaker in this film. Japanese undertaker, nokanshi (納棺師) is in charge of cleaning the corpse and its makeup. Obviously people need undertaker to conduct a funeral, but this occupation is rather considered as despised one in Japan. In the movie, Daigo’s wife also refused him to touch while saying ‘odious’. In Japan, the bereaved gives small pack of salt(called Giyome Siyou, 清め塩) to visitors. Because it is commonly believed that the dead man’s foulness(Gegare 穢) can be passed from the funeral, visitors need to be purified with salt (Sung 251). Since Daigo insists his job, people do not understand and leave him.

After pondering, he finally decided to quit the job. The boss glared him at first, and suggested having a lunch together. During the meal, the boss poked octopuses with his chopsticks and said, “This one is also corpse. We need to eat all these if we do not want to die. If we eat, it would be better to be delicious” (Departures). Not only eating dead thing, but also preparing death is a destiny for living thing. Only after funerals, the family of the decreased accepts the death and find solace. An undertaker plays the most important role here. He gives the gift of last memories. By making the dead beautiful, the decreased can be remembered as they are in their living years forever. Daigo waited a moment and replied, “It’s delicious”.

Works Cited

Sung, Hae Jun. The characteristic of funeral rites filled with Japanese thought about Life and death. Pusan: 2011. Print.

Departures. Dir. Yojiro Takita. Perfs. Tsutomu Yamazaki, Masahiro Motoki. 2008. DVD. Shochiku, 2008. 




[1]
The Japanese title is Okuribito, which literally can be translated as ‘a person who sends’.