초록 열기/닫기 버튼
1991年に日本で初めての散骨を実施した「葬送の自由をすすめる会」は、近代日本の「家の墓」の構造的な矛盾への対処とみられる動態的な社会運動が従来の葬送のあり方に対して疑問を投げかけ、その後の日本ではさまざまな葬法が実現された。日本において葬送をめぐる市民運動から30年以上が経過した現在、それまで「伝統的」とみなされてきた墓に代わる、永代供養合葬墓や散骨、樹木葬など新たな葬法が一般的な選択肢として受け入れられてきている。この間、人びとの葬送に対する意味づけや文脈に大きな変容があらわれていると考えられる。 本稿では、1990年代以降に日本で新たに登場したといわれる多様な葬送の中から散骨に注目し、現在の日本において散骨が人びとにどのように受容されているのかを探るため、海や山への散骨を実施するNPO法人、仏教寺院、企業、および自主散骨者を対象とした調査を行った。その結果、当初、葬られる本人の積極的な思想や理念により実現されていた散骨が、先祖代々の墓を手放すため、あるいは何らかの事情により墓がもてないなどの困難を抱える人たちの選択肢にもなっていることが明らかになった。
The Association for the Promotion of Freedom of Funeral Service executed the first scattering of ashes in Japan in 1991, questioning traditional funeral rites. This dynamic social movement is considered a response to the structural contradictions of the notion of family graves in contemporary Japan. Subsequently, varied types of funeral services began to be accepted in Japan. More than 30 years have passed since the citizens' movement on funerals. New funeral methods such as permanent memorial graves, scattering of ashes, and tree burials are now generally accepted as alternatives to graves previously deemed traditional. In the interim, a major transformation is thought to have occurred in the meaning-making and contexts of funerals. This study attended to the scattering of ashes, one of the diverse new funeral methods that emerged in Japan in the 1990s. It entailed a questionnaire survey of NPOs, temples, companies, and individuals who scatter ashes in the sea and mountains to determine how this practice is currently accepted in Japan. The results revealed that the scattering of ashes, which was initially performed because of the constructive ideas and principles of people who were traditionally buried, is no longer only an option for those in such a position. Today, this practice is increasingly being chosen by those who, for whatever reason, are compelled to relinquish their ancestral graves. Hence, the scattering of ashes has become an option for those who cannot or do not want a grave.
키워드열기/닫기 버튼
scattering, funeral, remains, views on life and death, view after death
