Funeral in Japan tends to be simple.
Funerals in Japan have always been famous for being expensive. Buddhist ceremonies, including two commemorative ceremonies, gifts for guests, prayers of monks and gifts from Buddhist posthumous title, add up to 30,000 dollars.
In the past, funerals were often full-service because the industry was monopolized by a few family-owned enterprises, and all enterprises provided similar services at fixed prices. In addition, Japan is taboo to be careful about this religious ceremony.
But now, John? John Cam offered a very different choice. Last June165438+1October, All-States Cremation Service Company operated by Cam family opened a branch in Japan to provide simple funeral services for Japanese consumers at a price as low as 255,000 yen (US$ 2,350). The National Cremation Service Company is headquartered in Colorado, USA. Unlike Japanese companies, which usually provide a full set of services and charge a fixed fee, Cam's company allows customers to choose the service content.
The business performance of Kamm Company can reflect how much the Japanese consumers' thoughts have changed in the past 10 years. Japan's long-term economic downturn has made people more keen on bargaining, and the demand for choice is more urgent than ever. People even began to do things that people used to despise-for example, selling old clothes in flea markets or spending the night in cars to save hotel expenses. The younger generation in Japan care less and less about social reputation, but are more keen to express their personality-such as living together without marriage, leaving before they get together, and so on.
Lin Guang, manager of Bobaotang Institute of Life and Life, a think tank that studies consumer attitudes, said: "Japanese people are becoming less and less conformist, and they don't care much about what society thinks of them. They also have more choices when buying cheap goods. "
However, skeptics question whether Japanese consumers are stingy when holding ceremonies for their deceased relatives, or whether they will entrust such traditional ceremonies to a foreign newcomer.
Ken Yoshida, president of Koekisha Co, one of the largest funeral industries in Japan, said, "If you don't have the experience and solemn sense of funeral industry, you won't have a meaningful funeral." Others say that Kamm may find it difficult to survive simply by reducing funeral expenses.
Cam, 33, did not flinch from such criticism. He said, "We will open a big hole in this industry." In order to distinguish himself from traditional competitors, he distributed brochures and advertisements printed with the words "transparency, responsibility, solemnity and individuality".
His company All Nations Society in Japan provides customers with a detailed price list, ranging from photos to flowers, from which customers can choose to add services.
Cam said, "Japanese consumers need transparency. They need to know where the money is spent. They want cheaper services, but if they know where the money is spent, they generally don't mind spending it. "
The rapid aging of Japan's population means that the number of funerals will continue to increase. Mitsuru Fukuda, editor of the industry magazine Funeral Career Month, predicts that the annual death toll in Japan will increase from the current 165438+ million to about1700,000 in 2035. It is estimated that the annual income of funeral business will increase from the current10.5 trillion yen to 2 trillion yen in 2040.
At the beginning of Kamm Company's opening, he received an unexpected gift from the Japanese government. His company has benefited from new Japanese measures to reduce the entry of foreign companies into market barriers, and nearly 65,438+000 companies ranging from wine importers to conference organizers. After Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi announced in 2003 that he would double the foreign direct investment in Japan, the Japan External Trade Organization set up six business support centers to provide free consulting services and temporary office space for businessmen interested in setting up shops in Japan.
Kamm is also pushing another change for Japanese consumers: planning funerals in advance, which was criticized as bringing bad luck until recently. But some Japanese have accepted the idea.
Takeshi Sato, a 55-year-old government official near Tokyo, is planning two funerals, one for his mother and the other for himself. The reason is that when his father died 16 years ago, the nurse arranged a funeral home for him-this is a common practice in Japan, and funeral companies often get customers through the relationship with hospitals. Sato said that at first he was told that the funeral would cost 6.5438+0.5 million yen, but the last-minute service increased the total cost to 2.2 million yen. He said, "Everything is decided for me."
As Sato's mother was ill, Sato decided to get ready before he died. He told the representatives of all countries that he would hold a traditional Buddhist funeral for his mother. "Because we come from the countryside, we adopt this traditional form." For his own funeral, he intends to simply cremate.
He said, "I'm just waiting for my mother to die. If she finds out all this, she must be very sad. "