Japan’s Creepy Corpse Hotels Could Do Some Good in the States

Original Article via

With 49% of Americans projected to choose cremation in 2017, we may need to address overcrowded crematoriums the same way Japan has. 

Dead people take up a lot of space, an issue Japan is beginning to comprehend. Approximately 110,000 people died in Tokyo in 2014, but there are only 26 operating crematoriums in the city. As the death rate continues to rise in Japan, the country has begun to explore alternative storage methods, if you will, to offer relief to overcrowded crematoriums. That solution comes in the form of “corpse hotels,” where bodies are stored in pristine conditions for up to four days before space is cleared at crematoriums for their arrival.

The new corpse hotel called Sousou is located in the city of Kanagawa, where 75,000 people died in 2014. As the city only has 20 operating crematoriums, it suffers from the same overcrowding issues as Tokyo. Located on a suburban block, the grim exterior of the hotel stands out among its surroundings with navy curtains covering all the window. The hotel may be slightly out of place, but it provides a place for families and friends to visit their loved ones before the body is shipped off to the crematorium a few days later.

Sousou representative Hisao Takegishi referred to the facility as a “funeral refugee,” a crucial step in dealing with the overcrowding issue at crematoriums. Sousou provides a section for relatives to relax and discuss their options with the staff, while the bodies of their loved ones are preserved in highly air conditioned other rooms in other parts of the building. The facility’s staff hopes to expand the business into other, more crowded cities like Tokyo where the disturbing nature of the building wouldn’t interfere in the lives of local residents as much.

Japan’s corpse hotel idea calls attention to a similar issue in the United States. Although interring bodies is still popular in America for religious reasons, according to data from 2014, the percentage of Americans who want to be cremated had risen from 3.5% percent in 1958 to nearly 40 percent, and there’s evidence to suggest that statistic will only increase. The number of crematoriums in the United States has increased to keep up with the trendiness of cremation, but it’s likely we may run into a similar problem like the one in Japan.

Noting the projected 49 percent of Americans that will choose cremation in 2017, Barbara Kemmis, executive director of the Cremation Association of North America, said, “If we don’t address the capacity issue and increase the number of crematories, it could take up to two weeks to cremate someone in 2040.” Japan’s solution has secured a four-day waiting period between storage at the corpse hotel and cremation, putting the length of two weeks in perspective.

With the ever-increasing popularity of cremation in the United States, it looks like we may have to get dead serious about investing in some of these corpse hotels.

Photos via Youtube/Freeclick (1, 2, 3)

Cover Image: Reuters

[H/T: Inverse.com]

New Jersey Woman Honors Sister’s Memory With White Castle Urn

Original Article via

Stacey Parrinello, a woman from Manalapan, New Jersey, is paying tribute to her late sister Mel Burrows’ memory with a custom- made White Castle cremation urn, designed by Minnesota-based Foreverence, a company dedicated to celebrating the lives of loved ones with individually designed, 3-D printed, urns. Each as unique as the lives they represent.

Mel was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer in 2015, and as a special treat after her treatments, she and Stacey would sneak out of the hospital and pay a visit to their local Castle. “Let’s treat ourselves,” became the catch phrase of the sisters’ special trips and is prominently featured on the urn.

“It might seem a bit silly to some people, but White Castle provided a sense of normalcy during Mel’s treatments. And that was a true gift, because those days were difficult for all of us,” said Parrinello. “The time we spent together at White Castle is something I’ll always cherish and look back on fondly, because I loved that Mel was able to find such joy in one of life’s simple pleasures. The White Castle urn is a way I can honor her and cherish some of the last memories we shared together.”

To honor Mel’s memory and legacy, White Castle is inducting both Burrows and Parrinello into the 2016 Cravers Hall of Fame class. Bonded by unique and compelling commitments to the Crave, the Cravers Hall of Fame encourages White Castle’s most avid fans to submit original stories about their relationship with White Castle, and why White Castle is meaningful to them.

“We are humbled by Mel’s story, and truly honored that our small, two-by-two hamburgers were able to impact her life in such a positive way,” said Jamie Richardson, vice president of White Castle. “As a special gift from our family to hers, we are donating $10,000 to the American Cancer Society in her name. White Castle brought joy to Mel during some difficult times, and our mission is to share her story and give back to others on her behalf.”

Stacey will be invited to the 2016 Cravers Hall of Fame induction ceremony in October at the White Castle headquarters inColumbus, Ohio. The deadline for entering the 2016 contest is June 30, 2016. The judges set criteria to evaluate each story based on the following: brand loyalty, creative presentation, originality and magnitude of the Crave. Previous winning entries have included tattoos, epic road trips, moving family traditions that have spanned generations, tributes to fallen friends, two movie stars, the former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives and one rock legend.

Entries are submitted online at whitecastle.com/CHOF, where rules and regulations also are posted.

“Our mission is to honor and celebrate the lives of family members and friends in a unique and personalized way. We were touched by Mel’s story, and were more than happy to create a custom-made White Castle urn to memorialize the fond memories she had with her sister,” said Pete Saari, founder and CEO of Foreverence.

For those interested in learning more about the White Castle urns, a link is now available on White Castle’s online store.

For more information, visit www.whitecastle.com or www.foreverence.com.

Dead and Alive Project with Klaus Bo

Greenland 

In Upernavik, the soil is too hard to bury the dead. Instead, they are laid to rest in concrete and stone-covered coffins above ground. Often, these coffins face the ocean, so that dead sealers can watch the place they once worked. via

Photographer, Klaus Bo, has set forth a project documenting the different cultural experiences surrounding death. The project is called “Dead and Alive Project.”

“In some places – like Denmark – death is taboo, in other places death and the deceased are natural parts of the life of the living. The background for this project is the desire to show how death rituals often reflect life. With its selection of different death and burial rituals, visitors to the final exhibition will gain insight into how much any given culture’s values, hopes and dreams are reflected in their thoughts about death and life after death, and how differently we treat our dead from culture to culture.”

Klaus has travelled far and wide to document different death traditions. Below are just a few of the photos that will be featured in the April issue of National Geographic with small insights to their stories:

Ghana

Church members carry Nene Nomo’s body to his grave. His coffin pays homage to his profession, chicken farming. via

Nepal

Ramri Tamang’s body is cremated on the outskirts of the village, surrounded by family members. According to their Buddhist beliefs, it is important to destroy the body so that the spirit cannot return to it. via

India

Bodies are cremated at Manikarnika Ghat, Varanasi’s main cremation grounds. More than 150 bodies are cremated there every day, and its frequent use has caused deforestation in the area. via

Madagascar

Family members dance with and celebrate their ancestor during a Famadihana. via

Haiti

Women in Port-au-Prince chant to lure the spirit of a deceased mambo, or Vodou priestess, into a kalabasa squash (seen floating in a bowl in the center). Afterward, they will release the spirit at a nearby road junction. via

To read more on the project, go to the project website HERE

To view the feature on National Geographic, click HERE

New Urn Company Foreverence Make 3D Printed Custom Urns

Have you heard of 3-D printers yet? They have been all the buzz the last few years, and have now made their way into the funeral industry in an impressive debut with custom urns. Now you can have an extremely unique urn made for your loves ones that really go above and beyond. They have the ability to really showcase someone's personality and display what they loved most.

Foreverence began making one-of-a-kind cremation urns using 3-D printers about three months ago. It can design an urn in just about any shape, giving families the opportunity to have endless creativity in memorializing their loves ones. The urns typically cost about $2,500. Foreverence is on track to make $500,000 this year and hopes to hit $3.3 million by its third year. Co-founder Pete Saari said. “It’s literally having a conversation with a family that suffered a loss to say, ‘What is symbolic of the way that person lived their life? What is a form of passion for them? What is something that was a hobby or interest of theirs?’ The conversation is around legacy — what was meaningful to that person, what’s meaningful for the family.”

With more and more people looking to cremation, this should come as no surprise. Pete Saari and Wally Danielson the founders of Foreverence found a way to customize cremations, and people are loving it. Check out their site, because the possibilities are endless.