Yanaka Cemetery: Dialogs Between Death and Life

Overview

The Yanaka Cemetery is one of Tokyo's oldest cemeteries. The greatest number of visitors come during the Obon holiday in the summer, when Japanese traditionally pay their respects to the dead. But though they come in droves, they each mourn in their own way. Some have finally been able to spare a few moments from their busy lives to tend to a grave. An elderly man is seen speaking to his absent spouse as he pours water ritually over her tombstone. A young man recounts memories of his deceased lover in front of her grave. This is a space for conversations between the departed and the bereaved.