Funeral

In April, we got a new principal at my main high school. He used to be an English teacher, and this is his first year as a principal. Those two facts combine to make him a great guy to talk to. (The last principal had a carefully crafted an image as a standoffish disciplinarian, so the new guy was all the more refreshing.) He's originally from Tsushima, and his family lived in the middle of the island, near my small high school.

Near the end of June, his mother died. The funeral was announced, and was attended by all the faculty members who weren't away on business or vacation. Wikipedia has an article about funerals, and it describes this one pretty well.

The chorus conductor (who also conducts Chorus D) gave me a ride. The rainy season was drawing to a close, and the sky was overcast. It was actually a beautiful day, with the darkness of the sky making the mountains and forests look even more lush than usual. The funeral was held at the family home. There were close to a hundred people present: family and friends, around thirty Tsushima High teachers, and various other colleagues of the principal. Principals from several schools on the island attended, as well as some from Nagasaki.

As people arrived, they went first to a small tent and table that had been set up in front of the house. There was an attendant seated there, and people handed him cards for the family expressing their condolences. The attendant gave them something in return. I couldn't make out what it was, and I decided it would be less than polite to ask someone. I looked it up later on, and found out the guests were leaving envelopes of condolence money. Japanese funerals can be very expensive--on the order of $40,000--which explains why guests would give money. I'm still not sure what they received in return. It was probably a thank-you note.

There was a loose line leading out from the house, but it wasn't moving. People continued to arrive, and finally the ceremony began. An announcement was made over an quiet intercom, and two Buddhist priests began chanting a sutra. They sang some in unison, but mostly formed minor chords. (Since I couldn't understand what was being sung, all I could focus on was the music.)

After the priests finished, the line began moving. Everyone was getting in line, so I followed suit. A couple of non-English teachers turned to me and explained (in remarkably good English I didn't even know they could speak) that we were to make three offerings of burning incense. They pantomimed how to appropriately do it. The procession was heading up to an altar set directly in front of the living room of the house, with the front doors of the house open, allowing everyone to see inside.

The family was gathered there, with the principal kneeling at the front, thanking each guest as they passed by. He smiled meekly when he saw me, and said in English, "Thank you for coming." Having watched each person in front of me, I carefully mimicked what they had done, lighting a stick of incense, folding my hands, and bowing to the family.

Everyone filed back into the front yard, and held hushed conversations. Most of the Tsushima High teachers quietly moved to the driveway, where I was able for the first time to ask some questions. I waited for one of the English teachers to broach the subject before I asked, but there didn't seem to be any hesitation to answer my questions. He explained what we had just done, and taught me some of the Japanese words associated with what was going on.

After all the offerings were made, I noticed that everyone was deliberately lined up along either side of the driveway. This left a clear path out to the road. A hearse I had noticed earlier had been moved up a little closer to the driveway, and there was a small stand with chairs set up across the street from the house. The family appeared, carrying the coffin, and moved to the area across the street. The coffin was placed on a stand, the family was seated, and the priest read another sutra. A very short eulogy was given (though I didn't understand what was said), and the principal (who, I think, was the eldest son) thanked everyone for having come. The coffin was placed in the back of the hearse, and the family got in the front. The car started, and the driver leaned on the horn as they very slowly drove away. The horn lasted for a full thirty seconds or so before dying away, and the hearse drove off. It was explained to me that the body would be taken to a crematorium, and the ashes either buried in the family plot or scattered at sea.

The guests began trickling back to their cars, and the chorus conductor and I talked about funerals on the trip back. This was made particularly interesting because his normal English and my normal Japanese aren't very reliable, so his funeral-related English was on about the same level as my funeral-related Japanese: zero. We gestured our way through it, though.