Japan faces another dilemma – Radioactive Dead Bodies

| April 13, 2011 | 0 Comments

After losing family members to the tsunami and earthquake, most Japanese would normally go forward with a traditional cremation and place the remains with those of the victims' kin. But the bodies near the plant have been exposed to radiation, making them potentially dangerous to handle or move. And nearly a month after the disaster, decontaminating them so they can be transported is rapidly becoming impossible.


Bodies likely ‘not intact’
After more than three weeks outside, bodies of quake-tsunami victims would be “not skeletonized, but not intact, either,” according to a California forensic scientist, who spoke on condition that he not be identified.

Two workers who were killed at the nuclear power plant were washed, decontaminated, autopsied and cremated, a Japanese nuclear physician told msnbc.com on condition of anonymity.

Other reports suggest decontamination has already become impractical, or impossible in some cases. See cremation review

Japan’s Kyodo news service reported that the police in Fukushima put off collecting remains of the dead after measuring an extremely high level of radiation on the body of a man found on March 27.

“Police were considering performing decontamination where the bodies are found,” the report said. But another Kyodo report four days later said that “there are some difficulties around cleansing the bodies, resulting in damaging the already decomposing victims.” Cremation urn review

Even identification is going to be difficult, according to the Kyodo report:
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“The victims’ nails can be extracted for DNA testing for identification, however, nails also need to be decontaminated and this will take tremendous amount of work and time,” it said.

Cremation believed to release karmic energy
Cremation is important to Japanese Buddhists because it is thought to release the karmic energy that continues on and leads to future rebirth. That belief, and Japan’s severe shortage of land for graveyards, means that nearly all Japanese are cremated after death.

Perhaps even more critical is the idea of recovering the bones so that they can be placed in the family tomb, with kin.

The earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan on March 11 badly damaged the Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear power plant owned by Tokyo Electric Power Co., or TEPCO. As the crisis around the plant built, the Japanese government called for evacuation of residents living within 12 miles of the damaged plant, which is now essentially a no-go zone.

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Hand carved of the finest solid brass. Lids screw on for a secure closure. Sizing Made Simple One pound of live weight equals one cubic inch of cremains

For example a 175 pound person, would yield 175 cubic inches of cremains, which would fit into a 10″ urn, 3″ = 3 cubic inches 6″ = 42 cubic inches 7″ = 87 cubic inches 10″ = 202 cubic inches

The Classic Silver & Gold Urn, 10 Japan faces another dilemma Radioactive Dead Bodies

In a traditional burial, there are more costs which can be very expensive. This will vary greatly with the type of casket used, embalming, head stone, services, and the type of burial. This type of burial can cost from $3,000.00 to as much as $15,000.00.

More Articles on Japan and Cremation

  • Japanese funeral – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia – Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. A Japanese funeral ( s gi or s shiki includes a wake, the cremation of the deceased, a burial in a family grave, and a periodic memorial service. 81% of all deceased Japanese are cremated, according to 2007 statistics.

  • Japanese Funeral Customs – vary widely from region to region, so a generic description is not possible. The religion of the deceased person’s family also has a bearing on the final arrangements, as do other factors such as the age at which the person died, social status and the family’s economic circumstances. I have attended a number of Japanese Buddhist funerals over the years for both friends and relatives and the information here is based on these experiences.

  • File:Cremation in Japan-J. M. W. Silver.jpg – Wikipedia, the free … – This is a file from the Wikimedia Commons. Information from its description page there is shown below. Commons is a freely licensed media file repository.

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