Burials in quake-hit towns deepen Japan's tragedy
Burials in quake-hit towns deepen Japan's tragedy JAY ALABASTER,Associated Press
YAMAMOTO, Japan (AP) — The funeral for Chieko Mori's daughter and granddaughter was an affront to Japanese sacred customs — the two were placed in simple wooden coffins that soldiers lowered into a ditch in a vegetable patch as a backhoe poured in earth, burying them alongside scores of other bodies.
Such an unceremonious disposal of the dead would be unthinkable in Japan in normal times. But the devastating March 11 earthquake and tsunami have left a huge backlog of thousands of bodies in makeshift morgues, leaving local governments no choice but to bury them in hastily dug mass graves.
In small-town Japan, the funeral is an elaborate and highly formalized Buddhist ritual, in which the body is washed, dressed and cremated, the ashes interred at the family tomb.
So this — mass graves, heavy machinery, improvised rites — is almost unbearable, a tragedy that robs both survivors and the dead of closure.
Since the tragedy, Mori has been in a deep shock and doesn't always respond when spoken to. Her husband, son-in-law, and another granddaughter are also dead, and they will be buried in mass graves in upcoming days. Her sister, Tomiko Sato, came from a nearby town to attend the funeral on Saturday, to relieve Mori of the burden.
"We were told at town hall that they didn't have the resources, and if we wanted proper cremations we could drive the bodies to Yamagata ourselves," Sato said, referring to a neighboring prefecture about 50 miles (80 kilometers) to the west — too far to travel with gasoline so scarce.
"But this is a temporary grave, and the government said they would cremate the bodies within two years, so we can move them to the family grave."
Saturday's mass burial was the first in Yamamoto, a town of 16,700 with about 1,000 dead or missing. Eleven uniform plywood caskets were buried, with 400 more planned in the coming days. A Buddhist priest apologized for the conditions before chanting traditional hymns, and relatives pried off the lids to caress the dead, placing garbage bags full of their belongings inside and later sobbing as white-gloved troops hoisted the coffins away.
For Sato, just finding the bodies was an achievement — she borrowed gas for her car and circled local evacuee centers for two weeks to track down the whole family, who grew strawberries in a coastal area where many houses are completely destroyed. The last to be found was Honoka, a granddaughter in junior high school, whose body was damaged beyond recognition.
"She wasn't wearing her school uniform, but her teacher contacted her boyfriend, who told us about a necklace and a bracelet he had given her. She was wearing both," she said.
The last time the whole family got together was in early December, for take-out sushi at the Mori family's now destroyed home.
The setting at Yamamoto was in stark contrast to a burial earlier in the day at Higashimatsushima, a town about 40 miles (70 kilometers) north up the coast. Soldiers there had dug pits in a muddy field at a recycling center, and a morning ceremony took place in freezing rain, against a backdrop of cubes of crushed plastic bottles and stacks of fluorescent light tubes.
Many relatives were bused in from evacuee centers and arrived in sweat pants and tennis shoes. Soldiers lowered coffins into the long ditches, and an official with a bullhorn called out the names of the dead, apologizing when he mispronounced one. Mourners in white masks sobbed from beneath their umbrellas.
"We lost my wife's father in the tsunami. He wasn't my grandfather, but we were very close, and I called him 'gramps.' He was a very kind man — he didn't like to drink but would always buy me a nice bottle of sake," said Koji Ushigome.
His father-in-law, Yuichi Takahashi, died in the tsunami at age 81, and was lowered into the ground in a white wooden coffin, with the number '670' written on the side in black magic marker. Officials were carefully noting the location of the coffins so the remains can one day be exhumed and receive a proper burial.
Officials stressed the temporary nature of the burials, and said they had little choice given the vast number of bodies. The official death toll from the quake and tsunami has passed 10,100, with more than 17,000 listed as missing
"The bodies are fairly decomposed now. These are not funerals, just short-term interments," said town official Toshiaki Aizawa.
Behind him, three cars full of mourners pulled up in the parking lot for the next set of bodies.
(기사내용)
일본 지진사망자로 깊어지는 비극
야마모토, 일본 (AP) - 전통을 성스럽게 여기는 일본에서 지진희생자를 다른 사람들과 함께 굴착기로 매장한다는 것은 불경스러운 짓이지만 일본당국은 이런 격식을 차리지 않은 장례절차가 아니면 지진으로 사망한 수천 명에 달하는 시체를 처리하는데 다른 방법을 찾을 수 없는 것 같다. 일본 시골에서는 사람이 죽으면 우선 씻기고 수의를 입히고 화장해서 유골은 가족 납골당에 안치하는 것이 불교식 예법인데 기계가 파놓은 공동 매장방식인 이런 급조된 장례 의식은 살아남은 사람이나 죽은 이의 마지막 가는 길에 깊은 비애를 느끼게 한다. 희생자 가족에게는 말 못할 비극으로 할 말을 잊게 하며 정식으로 장례식을 치르기를 진정으로 원한다 하더라도 여력이 없어 보인다. 현재 임시 매장 한 후에 사태가 호전되면 이전하는 방법이 최선이다. 불교 승려의 예불이 울려 퍼지면서 수백 명이 다음 장례식을 기다리는 가운데 먼저 십여 개의 동일한 나무로 만든 조잡한 관이 자위대원에 의해서 매장되었다. 한 지역에서는 지진으로 널려있는 쓰레기 더미 앞 질퍽이는 들판에서 병사들이 찬비를 맞으며 장례식을 올린 곳도 있다. 임시 피난소에서 입고 있던 운동복차림 그대로 가족들이 참석한 가운데 군인들이 관을 차례차례 내려놓으면 죽은 사람의 이름이 불리어 지고 가족들은 비를 맞으며 울먹이기도 하고 가족들이 나중에 다시 시체를 찾을 수 있도록 하기 위해 관위에 매직펜으로 숫자를 적어 놓기도 하였다. 이런 방법 이외에는 엄청나게 많은 사망자를 매장할 수 없다는 것이 강조되고 있는 현실이다. 시체가 많이 손상되어 장례식이라고 할 수 없는 방법이지만 지역의 관리들은 임시매장이라는 점을 강조하고 있다.
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