Japan

"In Japan, the night before the funeral, the very close relatives hold a special ceremony called 'Otsuya' to farewell the body. We burn candles and incense and stay awake all night, just in case the person wakes up. Monks also visit to pray and give the person a Buddhist name."

"After the body has been cremated, relatives each take a bone with chopsticks and place it in a white pottery jar. This way we send a message that we haven't abandoned the body. The voice box bone is a special bone because it is the shape of Buddha sitting in prayer. After 49 days the bones can go in a gravestone at the cemetery"

Hiroko Ishihara, 55 and Keiko Hosokawa, 49, Sydney