Pet funerals reflect Japanese spiritual thought

Japanese not only revere or soothe the souls of dead pets, but even petty insects, small plants, and even lifeless objects

Japanese undertakers specializing in pets have reportedly grown their business in recent years. Two factors appear to be working in their favor.

First, due to the prolonged and widespread effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, many pet lovers remained at home and came to share longer time with their pets, furthering their bond. Many people began to regard their pets as fuller family members. 

Second, due to the deepening crisis of the aging society in Japan, its elderly population tends to live with pets rather than with their kin, and hence the mutual bonding is further strengthened.

People have pets all over the world, and the Japanese case cannot be so unique. But is there any specific merit in discussing this new trend in Japan as an isolated phenomenon?

I believe the Japanese case is worthy to be noted. But before giving a clue, I would like to touch upon the varied services offered by the “pet undertakers.” 

There are basically three services that they offer. First, they cremate pets either at their facilities or at the house of the pet owner. Second, they offer funeral services–civil or religious—as desired. Third, they assist in burying the bones at a tomb in your garden or at a collective burying facility.

All in all, you could say that they (the pets) are deemed and treated almost like a family member even after they die. A friend of mine, who happens to be Catholic, recently told me that he too had relied upon the services of a pet undertaker.

This practice, I assume, is rather rare in many other countries, be they Christian or non-Christian. In this respect, the Japanese case is really worth a mention.

First, as for Christian countries, I understand they don’t hold pet funerals as the Japanese do, due to their sense of religious understanding. For them, the Japanese practice may appear to be “weird” or to put it rather straight, “pagan.”

For them, salvation is accorded only to the souls of humans, never to animals. In today’s secular, post-Christian culture, this understanding is expected to be irrelevant though.

In reality, however, this understanding still seems to occupy or affect people’s minds as a force of habit. 

Second, so far as non-Christian people in Asian nations such as China and Korea are concerned, it seems they seldom arrange funeral ceremonies for pets possibly due to cultural reasons. They tend to be anthropocentric and distinguish people from animals.

In contrast, the Japanese who are generally much less anthropocentric (and more nature-centric) do not tend as much to demarcate people from animals.

At this juncture, I must add that it is not only pets whose souls the Japanese revere. They revere or soothe the souls of multiple dead animals – ranging from animals sacrificed for medical testing, fish or shrimps for sushi, blowfish or whales for a diet, to police dogs and so forth.

They do this through religious ceremonies called “kuyo” that are by and large officiated by Shinto or Buddhist clergies. They pay tribute to their sacrifice. Even today kuyo ceremonies take place almost everywhere in Japan.

On top of that, the Japanese give kuyo ceremonies even for lifeless or non-living things – ranging from used utensils (like needles and kitchen knives), used medical syringes, used pens and brushes, dolls to used factory machinery, and so forth – in order to thank them for the services they offered for a long time, just before they are disposed of. It is to soothe their spirits (souls).

By the way, I was taught by a Guatemalan minister of Mayan origin while serving as Japanese ambassador there some 20 years ago that indigenous Mayan people similarly practice religious ceremonies to thank machinery for its laborious works just before they are scrapped, which is quite “Japanese!”  

So, the Japanese sometimes regard even lifeless things as people by sensing their souls. They also sense divinity in the pettiest insects or smallest plants.

Is this sensitivity animistic, pantheistic, or polytheistic?  

So below the surface of the popularization of pet funerals, one may perceive very animistic or pantheistic ethos or sentiment at the basic stratum of Japanese culture, which they may be sharing with Mayan people or North American indigenous people.    

Then what are the cores of their animism or pantheism? I would like to add two more features.

First, at a tangible level, the Japanese, as nature worshippers, adore mountains, fountains, lakes, falls, rocks, majestic trees, planets, and so forth, much like the Mayan, Celt, or Australian natives. These things are deemed to be divine or sacred. Therefore, many Shinto shrines are in reality located in the vicinity of those things to facilitate the worship of their divinity.

Against this backdrop, many classic works of Japanese literature, notably Mannyoshu, a compilation of classic waka (poems) of the eighth century and haiku by Basho are manifestations of the very animistic or pantheistic sentiment.

Second, at a more abstract level, Japanese tend to identify themselves with Mother Nature or Universe and have a sense of unity with Nature or a sense of belonging to it. They reach the ultimate spiritual stage or goal when they feel absorbed by or into Nature, i.e. melted into Nature. The Mayan and Pre-Christian Celt might have a similar mentality.

It is noteworthy that, at the basis of today’s Japanese civilization lie two distinctive elements, namely the animistic ethos on one hand and modernism on the other. It is not easy to keep a balance between the two, as they are basically very distinctive and sometimes contradictory.

However, Japanese people appear to somehow manage to find an equilibrium between the two different things – although delicate and fragile.     

Ueno Kagefumi is a former Japanese Ambassador to the Holy See (2006-10). The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official editorial position of UCA News.

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