Nōkanshi
A nōkanshi (納棺師) or yukanshi (湯灌師) is a Japanese ritual
Despite the importance of death rituals, in traditional Japanese culture the subject is considered unclean as everything related to death is thought to be a source of
Until 1972, most deaths were dealt with by families, funeral homes, or nōkanshi. As of 2014, about 80% of deaths occur in hospitals, and preparation of the bodies is frequently done by hospital staff; in such cases, the family often does not see the body until the funeral.[6]
Notes
- ^ Also called morticians (湯灌師, yukanshi); yukan is the ceremonial cleansing of the body that comes before the nōkan proper.
- ^ For a more detailed discussion of the position of kegare and death in Japanese society, see Okuyama 2013, pp. 8–12.
References
- ^ Sosnoski 1996, p. 70.
- ^ Olsen 2009.
- ^ Kim 2002, pp. 225–257; Okuyama 2013, p. 4.
- ^ Plutschow 1990, p. 30.
- ^ Pharr 2006, pp. 134–135.
- ^ Hosaka 2014, p. 58.
Bibliography
- Hosaka, Takashi (2014). Isha ga kangaeru "migoto"-na saiki no mukaekata 医者が考える「見事」な最期の迎え方 [What a Doctor Thinks is a "Splendid" Way of Facing End-of-Life] (in Japanese). Tokyo: Kakukawa Shoten. ISBN 978-4-04-110667-9.
- Kim, Hyunchul (2002). "The Purification Process of Death: Mortuary Rites in a Japanese Rural Town". Asian Ethnology. 71 (2). Aichi.
- ISSN 1092-1311. Archived from the originalon 13 September 2015. Retrieved 18 July 2014.
- Olsen, Mark (24 May 2009). "Yojiro Takita's 'Departures' has a surprising journey". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles. Archived from the original on 13 September 2015. Retrieved 15 June 2014.
- Pharr, Susan J. (2006). "Burakumin Protest: The Incident at Yōka High School". In Weiner, Michael (ed.). Race, Ethnicity and Migration in Modern Japan: Indigenous and Colonial Others. London: Routledge. pp. 133–145. ISBN 978-0-415-20856-7.
- Plutschow, Herbert E. (1990). Chaos and Cosmos: Ritual in Early and Medieval Japanese Literature. Leiden: E. J. Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-08628-9.
- Sosnoski, Daniel, ed. (1996). Introduction to Japanese Culture. Rutland/Tokyo: Tuttle. ISBN 978-0-8048-2056-1.