Mark Willacy reported this story on
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TRANSCRIPT
ELEANOR HALL: The Japanese Government is under pressure to pay for the cremations of the escalating number of people in Japan who die penniless and alone.
Once, this was a country where you were seen off with a lavish funeral worth tens of thousands of dollars.
But at many funerals now, the only people turning up are the workers at funeral homes.
In Tokyo, North Asia correspondent Mark Willacy reports.
MARK WILLACY: It's a lonely send off, no family, no friends, just three funeral home workers.
They didn't know the 78-year-old man lying in this casket, nevertheless, they tenderly place white flowers over his corpse and say a prayer for his soul.
The old man died in hospital, and when no family could be found the Government stumped up $2,000 to have him cremated.
"Obviously it's best if family and friends can see off the deceased rather than us," says this funeral home worker. "Every day society seems to get a little lonelier," he says.
With the marriage rate slumping, along with the birth rate, and the population ageing rapidly, more and more Japanese are finding themselves alone at the end of their lives.
Often, in this crowded country, people can die and lie undiscovered for weeks, people like Hiroshi Yamanochi.
"There were no numbers or contacts in the mobile phone we found inside his home," says Yamanochi's cousin Kiataka Sato. "It appeared he had no friends at all," he says.
The 57-year-old Yamanochi was once a successful builder, but the recession 20 years ago finished off his business and left him a broke and broken man. When he was finally found, alone and dead in his apartment he had just 596 yen, or seven Australian dollars.
"It's hard, it's sad," says his cousin Kiataka Sato. "At his funeral there were just three of us, while nearly others were being seen off by dozens of people," he says.
Hiroki Sato knows she won't be seen off by dozens of people. The widow has no children and no close friends, despite joining many hobby clubs.
"I just want someone to talk to," says Mrs Sato. "No-one looks after me when I'm sick, I am all alone. So I need to battle this all out on my own," she says.
(Sound of Hiroki Sato sobbing)
And in waging that battle Hiroki Sato has written out her will in a notebook and signed a contract with a company that will conduct her funeral.
"Of course it would be good to have a lavish funeral," she says. "But I don't want to cause trouble for anyone. Just a few flowers will be fine," she adds.
This is Mark Willacy in Tokyo for AM.
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