My Sister’s Ashes

Dear Friend/s/ Officer/s,

Hope you are keeping well?

I am Paulami from India. I and my husband are planning to travel to Japan for approximately 10 days in either June or July this year of 2023; we plan to travel to Kyoto and Hokkaido.

In April of 2019, I lost my younger (baby) sister to a sudden a brain stroke during her mid 30s.

She was cremated here in India but I haven't preserved her ashes to scatter in Japan (fingers crossed and hopefully).

Japan happens to be her most favourite place in this planet due to 3 reasons as I would know:

1) Her deepest and most sincere admiration for Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli since the time she was introduced to My Neighbour Totoro. When we both watched it together around 11 years back, she said the relationships between Satsuki and Mei reminds her of our loving and a strong bond during our childhood and even then and always.

2) Japanese cuisine which she is (we both are) deeply fond of.

3) She was exposed to the culture and the people during her last long holiday in Japan which validated her hypothesis of Japan . She always wanted to travel with me to Japan but probably fate has its own way.

Please if you could suggest if there are any process or guidelines and any place (like sea or any other place where I can say Goodbye and pay my final respects. This trip is long awaited due to various reasons and one being COVID.

Kindly note I have her death certificate with me.

Looking forward to hearing from you,

Best Regards,
Paulami

You ultimately want that your sister will go to the heaven And she meet with you as well as japanese people in paradise,then why you take this hardship

Do you know our creator is full of shy ,and our creator feel shame,if any creation demand anything but he ignored to reply.
So your prayer from your country is enough.
Dont bring that in japan.one request:if you give anything to poorest level of your society, it means that you give that to your creator.

@ Max
The question was about bringing her sister's ashes to Japan. Not about your views on god or the afterlife. Not about whether you think she should bring the ashes to Japan. Nobody asked for your opinion so please think about whether your response is helpful and appropriate before hitting the 'submit' button in future.

@ Paulami
You can legally bring the ashes into Japan and scatter them more or less wherever you want as long as they do not contain identification pieces of bone. Land or sea is fine as long as the land is public. Obviously use common sense. I recommend finding somewhere relatively private to do it. Additionally, please check your airlines regulations for carrying the ashes on board as they do vary, but in the main it is allowed.

Wishing you a peaceful journey.

Apologies, that should read "identifiable pieces of bone"

@ Liz, many thanks for a thoughtful response! Best Wishes to you.

@ All, yes a typo there from me, please read "I have preserved her ashes"!

Paulami,

I am sorry for your loss and feel for you. Yet, I'm afraid I cannot fully agree with LIZ.

Like she says, the Japanese law does not prohibit the scattering of ashes as long as they're powdered. But in reality, the residents or users of that area, including the sea where fishery is done, can sometimes be taken aback. This may lead to unnecessary misunderstanding and trouble, including law suits.

Websites like the one below suggest that it's only safe to scatter ashes (A) on land that you actually own or (B) designated places an organization such as a funeral company has assured or (C) a place way out in the sea definitely far from any fishery or swimming area.

https://www.sankotsu-umi.jp/news/449/

A lot of Japanese locals wish to scatter ashes, and our understanding is that we need to find the right route to do it. Just as an example, here is a list of sea-scattering organizations throughout Japan.

https://www.kaiyoso.com/list/

May your sister rest in peace in the most peaceful way possible.

I agree with both Uco and LIZ. I have scatteret ashes of my relative in Japan. Uco is correct that it can be a sensitive thing for some Japanese which is possible to cause a problem. For the aforementioned reason LIZ is correct to recommend to find somewhere private away from people for do it. I scatteret ashes of my relative near the banks of Tamagawa in Tokyo. Personally I do not think I would pay to allow somebody else to do this.

Please do not break the law. Scatter your ashes somewhere quiet away from people and you will not make trouble.

Heartfelt thanks Uco-San for your kind wishes, thoughts, understanding, support and generosity. Ever grateful for such a detailed response with relevant information. I will be most sensitive and conscious to every bit of your suggestion. Best wishes to you!



Thank you Yabe-San for your thoughtful response, suggestion and much needed guidance. I will keep every bit of it in mind. Best wishes to you!