Shukatsu Festival: Try Before You Die

"Macabre Festival Lets Japanese Try Out Coffins and Funeral Makeup"

Participants can choose their funeral outfit, put it on, slip into the flower-filled casket they like and have a picture taken. That way, they get to know exactly what they’ll look like on the day of their funeral. They can even have funeral make-up applied on their faces for a deathly pallor. They can also choose to be covered with white blankets and have the attendants softly close the lid. This year’s event in Tokyo attracted over 5,000 visitors.

 Provided we can get the deal done today, we'll throw in - as our special gift to you - a set of Ginsu Steak Knives and enough bone-picking chopsticks for the entire tribe.

 

Tokyo-based travel company, Club Tourism International Inc., conducts "Shukatsu" tours — for which the company provides a cruise on which participants scatter their "own ashes” into Tokyo Bay. They throw bags filled with salt, used to resemble their remains, into the sea from the ship. The day trip is priced at about ¥8,000 to ¥10,000. About 450 people have taken part in such tours so far, with many more remaining on a lengthy waiting list for future tours. (The Japan News)