The Taboo of Death

"Giving food offerings at all the places on the route seemed to them a necessary part of memorializing and consoling the dead,"(p.161). In comparison to western traditions of treating the dead the Japanese a respect them in similar ways however the outward show of respect varies. At Mount Osore people set up memorial tablets tobajō where worshippers would put offerings and incense but then sit down around them and act as if they are having an outing (p.153). In western culture we have something similar to the tobajō. Our tomb stones at the head of each grave, however our tomb stones are a more permanent reminder of our deceased being that they are made of stone where as the tobajō are made of wood. In a sense it is good that the deceased have a constant marker of their death however, many western families simply forget their loved ones in the cemeteries. The Japanese who believe go out regularly to Mount Osore to partake in the ritual meaning that they are constantly reminded of their deceased and are able to constantly honor them. We, in the west, also offer things to our dead, but these things are often resigned to floral arrangements of various shapes and sizes. The Japanese who visit Mount Osore leave food, incense and other offerings to their dead. I think that their practices of honoring the dead are more in depth and better at constantly remembering and honoring their existence than western practices. Death in the western world is something that is feared, and fought against and when someone dies they are treated with respect but also with distance because coming near the dead accentuates their own mortality. The Japanese who visit Mount Osore don't necessarily celebrate it, but their practices can be seen as an acceptance of death. Religion and culture can dictate how a body is treated and what ceremonies occur after in the West the deceased get a lavish burial but are quickly forgotten, where are on Mount Osore the dead are honored constantly.

Ciara Williams