Eternal memorial services involve cemeteries, temples, and other institutions managing and maintaining the remains on behalf of surviving family members and descendants. Leaving the management and maintenance of remains entirely to the cemetery or temple reduces the hassle. While traditionally used as a memorial service for those without relatives or heirs, an increasing number of people are choosing this option for reasons such as "reducing the burden of grave care for future generations" and "reducing the cost of the grave."
A typical grave, designed for inheritance, requires an ongoing annual maintenance fee. In contrast, with eternal memorial services, there are often no payments required after purchasing the grave. However, some cemeteries may require an annual maintenance fee only while the grave owner is still alive. Fraudulent businesses exist, so it's important to check carefully beforehand.
Eternal memorial services are often available to all religions and sects, and the memorial service method may differ from your previous sect. Depending on the temple, you may be required to become a parishioner. Being a parishioner means supporting the temple through donations and other means. You may also be charged a "perpetual use fee." This is like a license fee for the use of the grave site.
The word "perpetual" may sound like it means "no time limit," but in reality, there is usually a time limit. This is often written in small letters in the temple regulations. The time limit may be as long as 33 years, or just a few years, so be careful.
After the time limit has passed, the remains will be removed and buried together with those of various other people, regardless of whether they are related by blood. This is known as a "common grave" or "common burial."
Even with perpetual memorial services, there are perpetual memorial graves exclusively for communal burial, and types that can be used as "family graves" just like regular graves. For perpetual memorial graves exclusively for communal burial, the price is per person, so the usage fee is charged based on the number of people buried. If you're considering using a grave for multiple people, such as a couple or children, be careful not to end up thinking, "It would have been cheaper to build a regular grave." Furthermore, graves that include perpetual memorial services are designed for short-term use and often have smaller storage space than standard graves. It's best to check in advance how many people's remains can be interred. Particular care is needed when installing a dedicated tombstone in a cemetery with perpetual memorial services. While the family's name will be engraved on the tombstone, even if you pay a lot of money to have one, it will need to be removed after a certain period of time, resulting in additional removal costs.
Perpetual memorial services vary depending on the cemetery or temple. Some have priests chanting sutras daily, while others hold large-scale joint memorial services only during the equinox and Obon seasons. The frequency and scale of these services vary greatly.
A major advantage of perpetual memorial services is that they are less expensive than standard graves. Perhaps because they fit modern lifestyles, such as the increasing trend toward nuclear families, their popularity is rapidly increasing. Ten years ago, perpetual memorial services would have been frowned upon by relatives, but now they are very common. |
