Japan’s Sapporo bans placing coins in coffins to help the dead pay for ferry to afterlife
Equipment damage sees ancient crematorium ritual outlawed; similar custom in China involves legend of the goddess of oblivion
The northern Japanese city of Sapporo has issued an unusual warning to its populace by urging them not to place 10-yen (10 US cents) coins in coffins during cremations.
Sapporo city in Hokkaido prefecture issued an official notice to crematoriums in April ordering them to stop people putting 10-yen (US$0.07) coins in caskets, according to local news outlets.
In Hokkaido, tradition sees people put a 10-yen coin in the coffin for the dead so that they have enough money to pay for the ferry fare across the Sanzu River.
The stretch of mythological water forms part of Japanese Buddhist belief, over which the souls of the dead must pass before reincarnation.
In China, a similar pathway for the dead exists over the Naihe Bridge.
Rather than paying a ferry fare, people receive soup made by the goddess of oblivion, Meng Po, to forget their previous life and start a new one.