St. Paul daily globe., 1889-01-12
CREMATION In JAPAN.
How the Dead Are Disposed Of in
the Orient.
North China News.

How the Dead Are Disposed Of in
the Orient.
North China News
A few weeks ago an occasional cores
pondent in Hang Chow seut you an ac-
count of cremation among the Chinese.
Perhaps short account of cremation
among the Japanese may interest your
readers. The Japanese almost uniyerS-
ally burn their dead II the body is to
be buried it is squeezed in sitting
posture into an earthenware jar. Ii to
be burned it is placed in similar man
ner in what the japanese would call
coffin, but what everyone else would
call tub. In either case the appointed
receptacle is so small that it is only with
great difficulty that the body is placed
within it. The body having been placed
in the tub and the lid fastened on. it is
stood in what in India would be called
palanquin, to be carried to the place Of
burning. Around Kobe several of these
places may be found. One in the hills
just above the settlement consists of a
large, barn-like structure. bui t OF brick,
rooted with tiles. In this building six
bodies may be cremated at one time.
One enters from the porch through large
doors: the interior is black with smoke,
tian shutters which run all around just
beneath the roof. On the floor are six
long trOughS. across which the firewood
is placed on which the coffin rests.
When all is ready straw mats are placed
over the coffin. These, when ignited,
soon set fire to the bamboo bands which
encircIe it, and it is not long before all
is in blaze.
Another place on the hill above Hiogo
(E-Yun Ya-ma, Ya-ki-ba) is much more
elaborate. This building can be dis
tinguished for miles by the high CHM
ney which rises above it. 1t is in the
hands Of private company, who have
made such arrangements that there is
nothing to offend either eye nor nostrli.
There are several buildings connected
with this establishments the one in which
the cremation takes place being dis
tinguished by the before mentioned tall
chimney. This building is built of red
brick, with foreign-looking glass win
dowS to light the interior. Upon pass
ing through the doors one discovers that
the red brick building is, so to speak, an
outer shell, the actual place of burning
being substantial erection on the in
side. The whole place reminded me at
once of an English bake house. In the
outer wall were the foreign glass win
dows; in the inner large iron doors.
There were eight Of these doors, raised
about two feet from the ground, each
door being about 4X3 feet. Upon OPEN
ing the doors brick chamber or oven
was seen within. The coffin. having
been placed on the properly arranged
wood and covered with blazing
straw mats, was shut in
by the iron door and lef
for the fire to do its work. All the
chambers were connected with the tall
chimney, so that smoke and everything
unpleasant are rapidly carried away
and dispersed IN the upper air. On the
third day friends come and search in
the ashes for the teeth and upper bone
of the yertebrp. These are carefully
collected, placed in little box, and
sent to the village or town where the
deceased was born. There the box is
placed upon the shelf before the family
shrine. Boxes for this purpose, neatly
made, may be purchased in the prem
ises. In conversation with Japanese
dentist L asked what would be done in
the. case of an old man, or one who had
no teeth. He said if he found it neceS-
Sary to extract q tooth that tooth would
be sure to be asked for by its owner, to
be by him treasured UP that it might at
some future time be placed in the little
box and sent with the rest of the an
cestral shrine. He added that it was
elderly men chiefly who asked for their
teeth: the younger men did not seem to
attach much importance to it. The
charge for cremation seems to vary from
so cents to 81 and more.
The shades OF evening were closing in
as [ entered one OF the lovely glens
which abound in the Kobe hills. AS [
traversed the winding path the young
moon overhead shone brighter and
brighter, and the stars one by one added
their lights as if TO cOunteract the gloom
of the rapidly advancing darkness. The
silence was intenSe-no breeze stirred
the motionless leaves. The distant
whistle of some steamboat in the bay or
the roar of some train on its way to and
from Osaka was all that could be heard.
Suddenly, upon turning corner, a large
building could be dimly seen on the riS-
ing ground in the distance. Volumes
of smoke were issuing from beneath the
roof, and through the large open doors
the interior could be seen brilliantly
lighted up. L advanced to the
door and looked in. Strange was
the sight that met my gaze.
Three large fires were burning
furiouSly. in each Of which was body
IN the act OF being crclnated. through
the binding smoke ! could see the fig
ures OF two men lowering about. These
men, in their ragged clothing, looked
scarcely human, as, armed with pitch
forks, they silently moved from fire to
fire. rearranging the blazing logs or
adding fresh fuel as occasion required.
Such sight held one rooted to the spot.
Indeed, the large, gloomy building, the
blazing fires the clouds of smoke. the
roaring of the flames, especially when
contrasted with the quiet, moonlit
scene without, but, above all, the two
ragged attendants, who, gliding about
from time to time, with their pitchforks
stirred the fires. sending showers of
sparks up into the smoke-laden air
above-all this presented a scene which,
once gazed upon, could never be effaced
from the memory.
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