A Hard Week

Since our last blog post Yoko's grandma passed away. Last Wednesday morning , 11/12, she had a heart attack around 6:30 am and passed away around 8:00 am. She was 88. We are thankful that she did not have a time of prolonged suffering, but we are sad that we only had one week with her living with us. Since her death we have been helping Yoko's mom with all that surrounds a person's death here in Japan. The funeral was yesterday.
This was Erik's first funeral in Japan, and it was quite a cultural experience for him. Upon grandma dying, she was taken to her home where she remained until Tuesday afternoon. She was at home so friends and family could come by and see her. Tuesday she was taken to the funeral home, and there was a ceremony and dinner that evening. Wednesday morning, there was another ceremony. After the ceremony, she was taken to a crematorium. While she was being cremated, all those in attendance had lunch. Once the cremation was finished, in pairs using long chopsticks, we picked up a bone fragment and placed it in a ceramic jar. The jar was then filled with the remaining bones and ashes. It is kept for 49 days, at that time another ceremony will take place where the jar is placed in the grave site.
The ceremonies Tuesday night and Wednesday morning were basically the same. A Buddhist priest chanted for about 40 minutes. While he chanted, those in attendance came forward and burned incense for Grandma. Instead of burning incense, we placed white flowers demonstrating that we are not Buddhist. At Wednesday's ceremony, Yoko's mom talked about Grandma, but she was the only one who got to say anything. It is definitely a solemn time. The only funerals Erik has been to were for family in the States, and they had an element of joy to them knowing that the family member was with the Lord. In all, it was quite an experience for Erik.