49th Day After Death

Which was today. As probably over 90% of my readers are from places that are not Japan I will explain why this date is important.

The dictionary states that souls of the dead alternate between the after world and this world during the seven weeks after death. There is a memorial service on the 7th, 49th, and 100th day after death.

Japanese funerals are probably one of the most expensive - Averaging 2.3 million Yen ($30, 500 CAD). My guess is that first there is probably not a whole lot of space to plant the grave stone at these days, and second seems to be the memorial services. There is a whole bunch within the first year after death but every year after for five years or so there will be memorial services. I don't know what all goes on in them as today was the first but there seems to be a lot of money being passed around.

The family gives the money to the Buddhist monks at the wake. The monks give the family some money afterwards. The family gives more money to the monks. Other family members give the immediate family money. The immediate family gives back the money in the form of food (Everyone goes out to eat and the immediate family pays for it). More money to the monks.

Today my family went over to my husband's uncles house where the five of us plus my husbands aunt and the monk were all crowded in a tiny, tiny room. (Everyone's knees were touching if that helps give you a visual) The monk began chanting some sutras (Or just one very long one) and at the end of it my legs were dead. Because I had to sit on a Japanese pillow, in a traditional Japanese sitting position, for an hour. You try sitting on your legs for an hour! It's hard, man! I stood up afterwards, and guess what happened.

If you guessed that I fell down, you were right! Choco cookie for you! Luckily my husband caught me. It was kind of like a movie scene where the male lead catches the female and sweeps her off her feet, except that it involved a tiny room and many people (So you can probably imagine that the other people are ducking out of the way).

So I've been told that there will be many more times like tonight where there is painful sitting, a monk, chanting and afterwards a restaurant and meal paid for by my husband's aunt. She's a sweet lady although I haven't really been properly introduced to her so I don't even know her name.