Japan Opens First Drive-through Funeral Service (japantimes.co.jp)

A funeral home with a drive-thru window opened in Nagano Prefecture on Sunday, allowing mourners to pay their respects without getting out of the car. From a report: The operator of the Aishoden funeral home in Ueda said the service is the first of its kind in Japan. It is primarily aimed at allowing seniors and the disabled to attend funerals but may also be used in the future by people short on time. During a tour Saturday, residents lined up to get a look at the innovative facility, which allows drive-thru mourners to stop their cars next to a window and enter their names and addresses on a device handed over by a waiting receptionist.

Comments

What about respect?

[DontBeAMoran]

Part of going to a funeral is to talk with the other people who knew the deceased person, give your support, etc.

I guess this service might be appropriate for the funerals of people like Rodney Dangerfield.

Re:What about respect?

[Baron_Yam]

"Funerals are for the living".

That's a fairly old quote, I know it through my father. I didn't understand it for a long time, probably because like a lot of teens I was pretty self-absorbed as a kid. But I get it now.

>Part of going to a funeral is to talk with the other people who knew the deceased person, give your support, etc.

Mutual support if you knew the deceased and aren't there only to support a grieving friend or family member. This is ALL of the funeral, in my opinion (though some people apparently need to see the body - I don't get that, but it doesn't make it less true).

Re:What about respect?

[ShanghaiBill]

Part of going to a funeral is to talk with the other people who knew the deceased person, give your support, etc.

Why can't you do that with Twitter?

Re:What about respect?

[thegarbz]

Part of going to a funeral is to talk with the other people who knew the deceased person, give your support, etc.

I guess this service might be appropriate for the funerals of people like Rodney Dangerfield.

In Japan the Wake is held before the funeral. There's very little talking still to do.

This seems extremely disrespectful

[Baron_Yam]

If this is to aid people with mobility issues, the correct response is to make the facility wheelchair accessible, and perhaps have a staff member available to assist.

Otherwise... you may as well just post condolences on a Facebook page.

Re:This seems extremely disrespectful

[TheRaven64]

The first time I went to Japan was about 15 years ago. I spent a few days in a fairly small town in the middle of nowhere. A short walk from where I was staying there was a drive-through shrine, where you could get your car blessed. This was, apparently, not unusual. I don't know what other drive-through services are offered by temples there, but this seems like a logical extension.

Easily handled by technology

[SuperKendall]

Part of going to a funeral is to talk with the other people who knew the deceased person, give your support, etc.

They can do that in a Slack group.

The service seems a little clunky though, having to enter your name and such by hand - what is needed is NFC support for paying respects, AKA RespectPay. Then you just drive up, wave your phone (or watch) at the respect terminal, and respects were paid in person without making other people wait.

Phht That's nothing

[Anonymous Coward]

With my Amazon Prime membership, I can have the deceased shipped to me. I get it within two days, pay my respects, and then print out a return label and drop the corpse off at Staples.

Re:Surprised.

[DramaGeek]

Done! Three years ago. And that's just the one I remember hearing about on the news, possibly not the first.
http://www.mlive.com/news/sagi...

No thanks.

[Wdomburg]

Manually enter my name on a device? What century are we in?

I'll start attending funerals when I can check in via E-ZPass. And they better have a 20MPH lane. I'm not slowing down to 5MPH for anyone but immediate family.