In Japan, Frugal Goodbyes
TOKYO -- Japanese funerals long have been notoriously expensive. The Buddhist rites, including two memorial ceremonies, gifts for guests, prayers by a monk and the bestowal of a Buddhist death name, can come to $30,000.
Diverging from this full ceremony typically wasn't an option, as the industry was dominated by small, family-run operations all offering similar, set-price services. Besides, it was taboo to scrimp on such a religious occasion.
Now, John Kamm has come up with a radical alternative. In November, he opened a Japan branch of his family's Colorado company, All-States Cremation Services, offering no-frills funerals for as little as ￥255,000 ($2,350). Unlike Japanese companies that typically charge a fixed all-in-one fee, Mr. Kamm's company offers a la carte options.
How well his business fares could serve as a test of just how much the attitude of Japanese consumers has changed over the past decade. The long economic slump here has made people more aggressive about bargain hunting, and more demanding about having choices. People even have started taking actions that have long been frowned upon -- such as hawking their old clothes at flea markets or camping in their cars to save money on hotels. And younger Japanese are becoming less concerned about appearing respectable in society and more interested in expressing their individuality -- couples living together before getting married, for example, and getting divorced if things don't work out.
"Japanese people are becoming less conformist, and they don't care as much about what society thinks of them," says Hikaru Hayashi, director of the Hakuhodo Institute of Life and Living, a think tank that researches consumer attitudes. "They've also got a lot more choice when it comes to buying goods cheaply."
Still, skeptics wonder whether Japanese consumers really would want to appear stingy on rites for deceased loved ones, or whether they would trust a foreign newcomer to handle such a traditional event.
"If you don't have the experience and the sense of the gravity about the funeral business, you can't put on a funeral that will be meaningful to people," says Takeshi Yoshida, president of Koekisha Co., one of the nation's largest funeral operators. Others say Mr. Kamm may find it hard to survive with a focus on cut-rate funerals alone.
The 33-year-old Mr. Kamm is undaunted by such criticism. "We're going to break the industry wide open," he says. To set himself apart from his tradition-bound rivals, he hands out pamphlets and advertisements printed with the words "Transparency, Accountability, Dignity, Individuality."
His company, which in Japan is called All Nations Society, provides a detailed price list of everything from photos to flowers, allowing clients to choose what extras they want from the list.
"Japanese consumers need transparency. They need to know what they're paying for," Mr. Kamm says. "They want something less expensive, but they generally don't mind paying if they know where the money is going."
Japan's rapidly aging population means the number of funerals is on the rise. Mitsuru Fukuda, editor of the Funeral Business Monthly industry magazine, forecasts that the number of people dying each year in Japan will increase to about 1.7 million by 2035, from 1.1 million this year. Funeral-business revenue is expected to increase to ￥2 trillion a year by 2040 from ￥1.5 trillion now.
In starting his business, Mr. Kamm has received help from a surprising source: Japan's government. His company is one of nearly 100 businesses, from wine importers to conference organizers, that have benefited from new efforts by Japan to ease the entrance of foreign companies into its market. Following a pronouncement in 2003 by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to double foreign direct investment into Japan, the Japan External Trade Organization opened a half-dozen business-support centers to offer free advice and temporary office space for people trying to set up shop here.
Mr. Kamm is encouraging another change among Japanese consumers: planning a funeral in advance, which until recently was frowned upon as bad luck. Some Japanese are warming to this idea.
Takeshi Sato, a 55-year-old government administrator near Tokyo, is planning two funerals -- one for his mother and another for himself. The reason: When his father died 16 years ago, a funeral home was assigned to Mr. Sato by nurses, a typical chain of events in Japan, where funeral companies tend to get customers through tie-ins with hospitals. Mr. Sato says he was initially told the funeral would cost ￥1.5 million. Last-minute additions to the service pushed the bill up to ￥2.2 million. "Everything was decided for me," he says.
With his mother now ill, Mr. Sato has decided to make preparations ahead of her death. He has spoken to representatives at All Nations about doing a traditional Buddhist funeral for his mother, "since we're from the country and that's what people would expect." For his own funeral, he has discussed a simple cremation.
"I'm just waiting until my mother passes away," he says. "If she found out about this, she'd be really upset."
日本葬礼走向简朴
日本葬礼一直以昂贵闻名于世。包括两个纪念典礼在内的佛教仪式、给来宾的礼物、和尚的祈祷式以及赐予佛教谥号，这些费用加起来有30,000美元之多。
以往的葬礼常常是上面这种全套服务，因为这一行业被少数几个家族经营的企业所垄断，它们全都提供类似的、价格固定的服务。此外，日本忌讳对这种宗教仪式精打细算。
但现在，约翰?卡姆(John Kamm)提供了一个截然不同选择。在去年11月，卡姆家族经营的All-States Cremation Services在日本开了一家分店，为日本消费者提供价格低至255,000日圆（2,350美元）的简朴葬礼服务。All-States Cremation Services总部位于美国的科罗拉多州。与通常提供全套服务并收取固定费用的日本公司不同，卡姆的公司允许顾客选择服务内容。
卡姆公司的经营表现正可以反映出日本消费者在过去10年间思想发生了多大的转变。日本长期的经济低迷使人们更热衷于讨价还价，并且对有所选择的需要比以往任何时候都迫切。人们甚至已经开始做出以前为人所不屑的行为－－比如，在跳蚤市场叫卖旧衣服，或者在车中过夜以节省宾馆费用。日本的年轻一代对于在社会名望越来越不关心，而是更热衷于表达个性－－比如未婚同居、合不拢就离等等。
研究消费者态度的智囊机构Hakuhodo Institute of Life and Living的经理Hikaru Hayashi说，“日本人正越来越不墨守成规，他们不太在乎社会对他们的想法。他们还在购买廉价商品时有了更多的选择。“
但是怀疑人士对日本消费者在为过世的心爱之人操办仪式时是否表现得很小气、或者他们是否会将这样一个传统仪式托付给一家外国的新来者表示质疑。
日本最大的葬礼经营企业之一Koekisha Co.的总裁Takeshi Yoshida说，“如果你没有经验和对葬礼生意的庄重感，你就不会操办一个有意义的葬礼。”其他人则称，卡姆也许会发现，只靠降低葬礼费用难以生存下去。
现年33岁的卡姆并没有在此类批评面前退缩。他说，“我们将把这个行业打开一个大口子。“为了使自己区别于遵循传统的竞争对手，他向人们分发上面印著“透明、责任、庄重、个性”等字样的小册子和广告。
他的这家在日本名为All Nations Society的公司向顾客提供一个详细的价格清单，服务内容从照片到鲜花无所不包，顾客可以从中选择添加的服务内容。
卡姆说，“日本消费者需要透明度。他们需要知道钱花在什么地方。他们想得到较便宜的服务，但是如果他们知道钱花在何处，他们一般不会介意花钱。”
日本人口的迅速老龄化意味著葬礼数量将会持续增长。行业杂志Funeral Business Monthly的编辑Mitsuru Fukuda预计，日本每年死亡人数将从现在的110万人增至2035年的大约170万人。每年的葬礼业务收入预计将从现在的1.5万亿日圆增长至到2040年的2万亿日圆。
在卡姆公司开张之初，他收到了一份意外大礼，这份礼物来自日本政府。他的公司从日本降低外国公司进入该国市场门坎的新举措中受益，同时受益的还有从红酒进口商到会议组织者在内的近100家公司。在日本首相小泉纯一郎(Junichiro Koizumi)2003年宣布将外国在日本直接投资增加一倍之后，日本贸易振兴会(Japan External Trade Organization)设立了6个企业支持中心，为打算在日本开店经营的商人提供免费咨询服务和临时办公场所。
卡姆还在促成日本消费者的另外一种改变：提前计划葬礼，这种做法直到最近还为人所诟病，认为这将会带来坏运气。但一些日本人接受了这一观念。
现年55岁的Takeshi Sato是东京附近的一位政府行政人员，他正筹划两个葬礼－－一个是为他的母亲准备，另外一个是给自己准备。原因是：当他的父亲16年前去世时，护士给他安排了一个殡仪馆－－这在日本是一个通常的做法，葬礼公司常常通过与医院的关系获得顾客。Sato说，最初他被告知葬礼将花费150万日圆，而在最后一刻增加的服务将总花费推高到220万日圆。他说，“什么事情都替我决定了。”
由于Sato的母亲生病，Sato决定在她死之前预先做好准备。他向All Nations的一位代表表示将为他的母亲举办一个传统的佛教葬礼，“因为我们来自农村，所以采取这种传统的形式。”对于他自己的葬礼，他打算只是简单的火葬。
他说，“我现在只等著母亲去世。如果她发现这一切，她一定非常难过。”
