According to a 2020 survey conducted by the National Association of Excellent Stonemasons in Tokyo and three prefectures, public awareness of scattering of ashes has already reached 87%, demonstrating its status as a major funeral method. While only 2-3% of people have actually experienced or requested ashes scattering, approximately 50% are in favor of scattering ashes themselves or their family members in the future, and scattering ashes is expected to become an increasingly popular funeral method.
Among the locations where ashes have been scattered to date, 45.9% were scattered at sea, 21.6% in forests, 27.0% in other locations, and 10.8% were unknown. While marine scattering was found to be the most common, it was surprising to learn that other and unknown locations combined account for a whopping 37.8%.
Based on the annual number of deaths nationwide, we can estimate that approximately 25,000 people have their ashes scattered at sea each year, and approximately 9,000 people have their ashes scattered in forests. However, it is thought that the fact that most specialist ashes scattering companies only specialise in ocean scattering, and that there are extremely few companies that handle forest scattering.
The National Association of Excellent Stonemasons, a general incorporated association that conducted the survey, is of the opinion that the number of people scattering ashes could increase by more than ten times in the future, and that the very nature of graves as we know them today will change.
Reference quote: Nationally excellent stone store |
