SAMPLING commercial products comes in many forms, from tasting new foods and drinks to test-driving cars and trying out the latest video games.
How about sampling your own funeral and getting a taste of your last goodbye before you are placed six feet under or cremated? Whether you think it is cool or creepy, it is happening. And it is big in Japan.
The Shukatsu Festa in Tokyo is a popular annual festival dedicated to the preparation and personalisation of funerals. Shukatsu in Japanese means “preparing for one’s end”.
With Japan’s ageing population, there has been a spike in attendance at the festival. For three years in a row, Japan has held the title of having the world’s oldest population.
At the event, more than 50 vendors displayed their products for trial, including a selection of caskets, funeral attire for both men and women, and plenty of hair and make-up options.
And some visitors were not shy about suiting up, slipping into a coffin, and snapping selfies to see what the end might feel like. At the Shukatsu death festival, people really put the “fun” into funeral.
The Japanese are not the only ones to test-drive the afterlife. In the Ukraine, some casket makers have introduced “coffin therapy”, in which people are invited to lie down for a time in one of their creations for a chance to feel what it would be like to spend the rest of eternity in a coffin. – Sapa-AP