Corpse hotels, or hotels where people can check in their dead till the crematorium or cemetery becomes available, have become a burgeoning trend across Japan. The fast-ageing society and death rate in the country have contributed to this practical solution in cities.
According to a report, 99% of people are cremated in Japan, the highest rate of cremation in the world. Due to this rush, a crematorium isn’t always readily available.At one such ‘itai hoteru’ in Osaka, Hotel Relation, the rooms have built-in altars and platforms to hold the temperature-controlled coffins.
Up to four relatives can sleep in an adjacent room which has twin beds and a TV. A large number of the clientele at Hotel Relation prefers to spend a day or two with their departed family member before the crematorium becomes ready.
Economically too, Corpse hotels make more sense. The Japan Consumer Association, which says the average funeral in Japan costs 1.95 million yen, or about $17,690 approx Rs 11.4 lakh. The cheapest deal at Hotel Relation would cost 185,000 yen, or about $1,768 (approx over Rs 1 lakh).
These stopovers for the deceased first made an appearance in Japan about five years back. They have been steadily mushrooming since then.
“Crematories need to be built, but there isn’t any space to do so and that is creating funeral refugees,” Hisao Takegishi, who started Sousou, a corpse hotel, in 2014, told.
The demand for corpse hotels is only going to grow. About 1.3 million people died in Japan Last year, up 35% from 15 years earlier, and the annual death rate is expected to go up till it touches 1.7 million in 2040, as per the Ministry of Labour, Health and Welfare.
