Bury Tuzik with my grandmother: Shocking Japanese pet burial traditions (7 photos)

If you say the phrase "buried like a dog" in front of a Japanese person, they'll likely misunderstand. The fact is that in the Land of the Rising Sun, pet burials are treated with great care, especially for dogs and cats.





Unfortunately, we've all experienced the death of a beloved pet—a goldfish, a hamster, a cat, or a dog. Afterward, the question usually arises: what to do with the pet's remains. While a fish can be quietly flushed down the toilet, the remains of a four-legged friend require special respect and are traditionally buried. In such cases, they often take a shovel and sadly bury their furry friend in a nearby forest belt or park.

For Japanese Buddhists, this method of animal burial is unacceptable, as according to their religion, a pet can be reborn as a human, which requires special respect for its remains. To become a human, a dog or cat must spend some time in the "World of Animals" in the afterlife—the third from the bottom of the six realms of rokudo, or suffering.



After this, the animal appears in the "World of Humans," where it is granted access to an important sacrament—the utterance of the name of Amida Buddha. After a former dog or cat proclaims "Namu Amida butsu!", meaning "I follow Amida Buddha!", it is reborn first in the Buddhist paradise—the Pure Land—and then on earth again, this time as a human.

This explains the reverent attitude the Japanese have toward dogs and cats, which may seem absurd to outsiders. A deeply religious owner will try to ease and speed up their dog's journey beyond the grave and will certainly order a memorial service. Buddhism requires the performance of good deeds by the deceased after death—in the case of a dead person or dog, good deeds replace services conducted by monks.





The ritual of burying the remains of pets with humans, sometimes even in the same grave or tomb, is also becoming popular.

"Abbot, my 'child' recently died. I want to meet him in the afterlife. Could you please place the bones in our family grave?"

Such requests are heard in Japanese temples almost daily. While monks are relatively relaxed about services for a dead dog, cat, or rabbit, they are often uneasy about human burials. The debate over the propriety of such burials has raged among theologians for many years, and it's unlikely to reach a consensus anytime soon.

Obtaining permission to bury a person and an animal in the same grave is very difficult, so the Japanese have a different approach. In major cities, there are numerous specialized funeral homes for pets, most of which have their own small cemeteries. Given the cost of land in Nippon, burying a pet in such a cemetery is quite expensive, even by Japanese standards.



Animal Cemetery in Tokushima

A grave will cost between $4,000 and $6,000, and according to local tradition, animals, unlike people, are buried in separate pits. However, purchasing the land for a grave is not enough, as an additional annual rent must be paid; otherwise, the burial will be destroyed and the land resold. The cost of land rent varies widely, depending on the prestige of the animal cemetery and the location of the grave.



For those Japanese who cannot afford to bury Sharik as an oligarch, cremation services are available. Cremation costs between $50 and $200, depending on the size of the body. After cremation, the owner can take the capsule containing the ashes home or place it in a columbarium for animals. The cell here, like the grave, is rented out. Typically, the grieving owner is charged $50 per year, which is three times cheaper than a columbarium for humans.



Owners of cremated dogs and cats can also order a unique monument in the form of a pillar. It's called a sotoba and costs a mere pittance—$1,500 for 50 years. As a bonus, the client receives maintenance of the memorial and annual services conducted by monks.



Pet Crematorium

So, and you say, "bury it like a dog."