No kidding! Japanese firm to offer “drive-thru” funeral service

TOKYO, Sept. 19 — Attending a funeral might be troublesome for some seniors, but a Japanese company wants to change that by offering relatives a chance to pay respects to loved ones without getting out of their cars, local media reported.

Elderly mourners can register their names on a touch screen tablet and roll down a car window to offer incense, which can be seen by the funeral host inside the venue via a monitor.The initiative aims to speed up funeral services and also to give “infirm” relatives the chance to pay final respects to the deceased, the firm’s president Masao Ogiwara was quoted by Japan Today as saying.With a rapidly aging population and widespread longevity, Japan has the highest proportion of people over 65. The latest government report shows that 27.3 percent of the the country’s population are aged 65 or older.The “drive-thru” funeral service is just one of many Japanese innovations in the business. For those who don’t want a costly funeral, a temple near Tokyo even accepts the ashes of the deceased via mail and places it in its burial facility, the report added. – XINHUA