Wednesday, January 30, 2013

2013.1.30

I took a day off today.
In the morning I attended the pre-funeral  of the neighbor.  Usually the wake (通夜: tsuya) is held in the night around 6 to 7 or 7 to 8 PM.  And the funeral (告別式: kokubetsushiki) is held in the day time between 10 AM to 2 PM or so.  However they say the crematory (火葬場: kasoba) is so crowded today, they decided to do pre-funeral first, then go to crematory, then have a funeral.  Since I had an appointment at lunch time, I decided to attend the pre-funeral. 
I was surprised to see two things, one was the  message on the lid of the coffin (棺桶: kan oke) which I have never seen, the other was the closing ceremony of the lid of the coffin.  Every participant nailed a lid by a stone, which I have never done.
At the wake or funeral we bring money called o koden (御香典).

I had luncheon and tea party in the afternoon and a meeting in the night at the Imperial Hotel.  I saw many people today.

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