“Death may be the termination of a life, but it’s not the end of humanity.”
—Departures
This is a line from the movie, Departures. I watched it many years ago; the leading character Daigo’s job in the movie impressed me so much by lingering in my mind every time I think of death. I decided to study more on his occupation and write my thoughts on that
A coffin man is a professional mortician who prepares body to cremation. He is the last person who sees a human being in body before it is totally gone.
The story in the movie happened in Japan: A young cellist, Daigo, loses his job and returns to his hometown miserably. To live a life, Daigo finds an advertisement for a job “assisting departures,” which he thought was a travel agency job at first. Later Daigo realizes that his job is actually doing encoffinment: A ceremony where bodies are prepared for cremation. Daigo keeps suffering from encountering death every day and hiding truth from his family and friends because of traditional social ostracism on death related jobs.
As time goes by, Daigo becomes comfortable with his profession. What’s more valuable is Daigo finds back the lost sense of feeling human.
I feel obligated to introduce this job to you in details. Japanese funerals are highly ritualized affairs, which are generally conducted in accordance with Buddhist rites. In preparation for the funeral, the body is washed and the orifices are blocked with cotton or gauze. This ceremony is not standardized, but generally involves professional morticians ritually preparing the body, dressing the dead in white, and sometimes applying make-up. The body is then put on dry ice in a casket, along with personal possessions and items necessary for the trip to the afterlife.
Most deaths were dealt with by families, funeral homes (where coffin men served) until 1972. As of 2014, about 80% of deaths occur in hospitals, and preparation of the bodies is frequently done by hospital staff. Since then, coffin man’s job has been gradually replaced.
Despite the importance of death rituals, in traditional Japanese culture the subject is considered unclean as everything related to death is thought to be a source of defilement. After coming into contact with the dead, individuals must cleanse themselves through purifying rituals. The stigma of dealing with death and discrimination against coffin man’s job remains in Japan society for a long time.
A life starts with birth and ends with death. You can’t deny the ending by discriminating against the “dirtiness” of death. Coffin man’s jobs is to demystify the taboo of death, to show people “death is a normal part of life, not something repulsive (Departures).” I think a coffin man’s job is as meaningful as a door that does delivery. People think dead people should be well treated after they die, so they hire coffin man to take care of the body. Why not respect a coffin man as well?
deathJapan Culture Movie
Reference:
Gone Jobs 