Buddhist monks in Japan preparing to hold funeral service for thousands of stuffed animals, dolls

Temple founded centuries ago helps out with unique modern ceremony in Osaka Prefecture.

Each year, monks from Shinguji, a temple in the town of Yao, Osaka Prefecture that was founded in the late 17th century, hold a massive funeral service. Last year’s ceremony was to celebrate and put to rest more than 50,000 individuals.

Thankfully, the ceremony wasn’t prompted by a natural disaster, tragic accident, or outbreak of disease. Instead, it was the latest iteration of what’s become a Yao tradition, the Doll Memorial Service.

The term “doll” here is used in a broad sense, as prayers for stuffed animals/plushies are also offered at the ceremony.

The Doll Memorial Service, organized by Yao funeral service company Hakkoden, has been being held on an annual basis for more than 20 years now. The idea for it came about when Hakkoden started getting inquires from local adult residents who had dolls and stuffed animals from their childhood that they were no longer playing with, but which they didn’t feel right just chucking in the trash like so much unsentimental fabric.

And so it came to be that Hakkoden began organizing a yearly memorial service, which is customarily held in the fall. The first year there were about 3,000 dolls, and in 2024 they received 50,000, as partially shown in the photo below.

The ceremony is held at Hakkoden’s Minami Uematsu funeral parlor, with the dolls and stuffed animals respectfully arranged at the front of the hall. As awareness of the event has spread, dolls have been submitted not only by residents of the town, but also from people living elsewhere in Osaka Prefecture and even in other parts of Japan. Dolls can be brought to the funeral parlor starting a week before the ceremony, and can now also be sent by mail to Hakkoden.

A strip of paper with a farewell message, chosen by the doll’s owner, is written on a strip of paper for each doll being memorialized, and incense can be offered for them as well. There is a fee for the service, which this year is 3,000 yen (US$20) per doll, in order to cover costs and also be put toward donations to local resident welfare programs.

This year’s Doll Memorial Service is scheduled for October 26

Source: PR Times
Top image: PR Times
Insert images: PR Times (1, 2)