How is death handled symbolically in Japan?

What ceremonies and rituals are used? What are the alternatives?

How do people look on death punishment?

Mr. Hang,

What ceremonies and rituals are used?

Here are some details.
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2060.html

What are the alternatives?

There are countless alternatives. You can do almost anything as far as you register the death and you follow the legal orders concerning sanitation.

How do people look on death punishment?

Quite debatable. Japan is one of the few countries that have the death penalty. There are citizens who are against it and those who are for it.

-- What ceremonies and rituals are used?
99% of them is Buddhist and 1% is Christian.
At a ceremony, we ware a REIHUKU (black formal suit), a white shirt and a black necktie with a Buddhist rosary.
There are many Buddhism in Japan and their rules how we should do are different each other.
In fact, most of Japanese also doesn't know the detail.
So, we usually do as what an undertaker says
or imitate around people.

-- What are the alternatives?
Sorry. I don't understand what you mean.

-- How do people look on death punishment?
We can't see it.
Just we can know when, after it had been done.

by the way what is death punishment ? please elborate, if, someone knows in detail.

by the way what is death punishment ?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_punishment

"Capital punishment, the death penalty, death sentence, or execution is a legal process whereby a person is put to death by the state as a punishment for a crime."

This is a really old source (2005) but I think Japanese population have shown consistent support for capital punishment.
81 percent in favour in 2005 (and never recorded below 50 percent)
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20050220a2.html

However, people are losing confidence in the system as a number of high profile cases where people on death row were suddenly acquitted. I think the question people are now wondering is how many people have been wrongly executed over the years.
Many verdicts rely on confession. And there are numerous accusations of police brutality in forcing confessions. The system is broken and needs fixing but sadly the public's attitude is out of sight out of mind.