Graves: From "Leaving Behind" to "Entrusting." The Challenge to Eliminate Unattended Graves | Inoriwa Co., Ltd.

Our company supports April Dream, which aims to make April 1st a day for announcing dreams. This press release is the dream of "Inoriwa Co., Ltd."

For everyone to be able to rest in peace after death. And for the bereaved families to be able to continue to pay their respects without burden.

It is our wish to create such a society.

We are now challenging ourselves to realize this society by spreading a new value: "Graves are not something to be left behind, but something to be entrusted."

Why we started this challenge

I have worked at a funeral home and have faced many families for 18 years.

What I have felt during that time is the reality that many people have anxieties about "post-funeral memorial services" even after seeing off their loved ones.

- No children - Living far away - No one to inherit the grave

"What will happen to this grave in the future?"

That anxiety grows larger over time.

The increase in unattended graves is becoming a social problem.

And as I toured cemeteries in Kitsuki City to start a tree burial business, I involuntarily stopped in front of a certain scene.

A cemetery covered in grass, where no names could be read.

Standing before it, I was starkly confronted with the reality that what was originally supposed to be a "symbol of love" passed down through generations had, at some point, become a "symbol of burden" that no one could touch.

"This cannot continue."

That conviction is the origin of this challenge.

Our answer = Tree burial (grave with perpetual memorial service)

Our answer to eliminating unattended graves. That is "tree burial (grave with perpetual memorial service)."

Tree burial is not just a method of burial.

Comparison of traditional graves and tree burials

It is a system that changes the burden of "maintaining a grave" into the choice of "entrusting one's wishes with peace of mind."

Even if there is no successor, or if one lives far away, one can continue to pay respects without difficulty.

Tree burial is an embodiment of the philosophy of "entrusting."

Perpetual memorial graves bury various people. Both perpetual memorial graves and tree burials are systems for perpetual memorial services.

### A mechanism to sustain compassion

To make this philosophy a reality, we need not only wishes but also a long-lasting mechanism.

We are collaborating with Joganji Temple, a religious corporation, to clearly separate the roles of memorial service and operation.

Joganji Temple Chief Priest Mitsunami Mitsuo, Inoriwa Representative Hajime Saito

The temple takes on the unchanging assurance of continuing memorial services.

Memorial service by the chief priest Dharma talk at joint memorial service (held during spring and autumn equinoxes)

Inoriwa is responsible for continuous support for families and the management of the cemetery, such as cleaning.

Responding empathetically to customers' concerns Regular cleaning

This division of roles is not a response to a system, but "A structure to ensure that wishes can be entrusted for 50, 100 years into the future."

To prevent compassion from being temporary, we make it sustainable.

That is our vision for memorial services.

### 18 years of struggle and 1 year of change

As a funeral home for 18 years, I have faced many "anxieties about memorial services."

And in this past year, we have already received 17 contracts.

Of these, 4 involved closing existing graves and entrusting them to a new form of memorial service.

I feel that the anxieties accumulated over many years are gradually turning into "peace of mind" in this past year. I believe this is not just a number, but a sign that the gears of society have begun to move.

Our dream

What we aim for is not merely to eliminate unattended graves.

It is to create a society where everyone can entrust their wishes with peace of mind.

As a result, unattended graves will cease to exist.

We want to realize such a future.

### Finally

Graves are changing from "something to be left behind" to "something to be entrusted."

By spreading this value, a society will emerge where connections between people continue gently, even after death and beyond.