TRADITIONAL JAPANESE CULTURE

Cremation rate in Japan is 99.25% as 90% of the population id practicing

Buddhist funeral which practices cremation
Tokyo and Osaka have local ordinances that require cremation for the
sake of public health due to scarcity of ground burial lots
Most of the Japanese prefer to return to nature, hence, proving the
emergence of 'jumokuso' (burial under a tree), a form of natural burial, in
a wooded area in a cemetery in Machida, Tokyo. Instead of a gravestone
marking the place of burial for a single family, a cherry tree serves as a
marker for a number of burial lots owned by several families. Families from
any religion are accepted.

SYMBOLISM
- Cherry Blossom or Sakura is a symbol of life, death and renewal
- White is the traditional color used in Japanese Buddhist funerals.
- Toro Nagashi floating lanterns during Bon Festival, a festival honoring
spirit of ancestors, which symbolize as a guide to spirits to ensure that they
will not lose their way
Gorinto
- Literally means five-ring or
five-wheel pagoda.
- Made of five pieces of stone
and serves as a grave
marker or cenotaph erected
for the repose of the
departed, one that in olden
days contained a relic of the
Buddha (hair, fingernail, bone,
etc.) Although many older
examples are found in Kyoto
and Nara, those made during
the Kamakura Period are the
most beautiful, say experts on
Gorint. The height ranges
from one to four meters
- each having one of the five
shapes symbolic of the Five
Elements:
o the earth ring (cube),
o the water ring (sphere),
o the fire ring (pyramid),

o
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the air ring (crescent), and the

ether ring, (or energy, or
The last two rings (air and ether) are visually and conceptually united
into a single subgroup.

symbolized the Buddha and his teachings,

o the five directions of space (four cardinal directions and the zenith),
o the five major episodes in the life of the Historical Buddha,
o the five Buddha of the current cycle
o the five elements, and a host of other groupings of five objects or ideas
RELATED JAPANESE TERMINOLOGIES
Maribaka grave site for visitation
Takamanohara heaven or upper world
Yomi underworld
Sanzu River river from where the dead crosses to enter after life
Konoyo world of the living
Anoyo world of the spirits
Sonoyo middle world
Okuribi ceremonial bonfire

Japanese Pop Culture

- A phrase that refers to the elements of "modern Japan" rather than the
elements of "traditional Japan". Some of the elements of Japanese pop culture
well known around the world include:
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Anime
Cosplay
Harajuku (neighborhood of Tokyo)
Japanese Contemporary Art
Japanese fashion
Japanese Movies
Japanese Television
JPop
JRock
Manga
Shibuya (neighborhood of Tokyo)
Visual Kei -a movement among Japanese musicians, which is
characterized by the use of varying levels of make-up, elaborate hair
styles and flamboyant costumes, often, but not always, coupled with
androgynous aesthetics.

Japanese Pop Culture is a highly influential combination of film, television,

manga, and pop music throughout the world. Dating back to the early
manga and films of the 1950s, the Japanese pop culture movement has taken

off since the 1980s and 90s around the world to become one of the most
influential sources of entertainment in the world alongside the United States.