How to handle the remains of a pet in Japan

When our beloved pet rabbit died last month, we were faced with the difficult decision of what to do with her body. We thought about burying her in the garden, which is what a lot of people do back home in Ireland. And according to my children, quite a few of their friends in Japan have also buried pets in the garden. But for our rabbit, Pyon, as much as she loved playing in the garden, it didn't seem right to bury her there. So we started to explore the options.

Public crematorium

A friend told me about this option, which is the cheapest at just 7000 yen for a pet the size of a rabbit. There are different prices depending on the size of the pet, not just at the public crematorium, but all the options outlined in this post. Honestly, we didn't really consider the public crematorium for Pyon, because it just seemed the  most impersonal. Moreover, as they are in high demand, there is a waiting list. We didn't want Pyon's body to start to decay while we were waiting for a slot in the public crematorium's busy schedule.

Pet Cemetery

We considered using a pet cemetery, which is what my in-laws used when there dog died a few years ago. But my husband told me that he wasn't particularly impressed with the pet cemetery they had used and we weren't keen enough on the idea to research other pet cemeteries in the area. However, if it is something you are comfortable with, the pet cemeteries can work out reasonable and are often the easiest option. If you drive your deceased pet to the cemetery yourself its even cheaper than having the pet picked up by the cemetery, working out at around 20,000 yen.

Temple cemetery

The other option we considered was burying her in the pet section of the regular cemetery of a local temple. This was the most expensive option, costing 50,000 yen for the service and a slot in the pet mausoleum. Its a temple I visit often, with beautiful floating flower fonts, so I quite liked the idea. However, the kids wanted her close, so we ultimately decided on the fourth option available to us:

Mobile crematorium

This was the perfect option for us. Believe it or not, the mobile crematorium is in a regular minivan. I was half expecting something like a hearse to turn up on our doorstep. The cremation chamber is just in the back of the minivan. They have it done nicely with a wall of flowers around the stretcher (for want of a better word) on which the body is placed.  

The cremation took about one hour, during which time we waited in our own home. The cremator called us when it was time to do the bones. This is a Japanese tradition when the loved ones move the bones, with chopsticks, into the urn. With the pet cremation you also have the option to put some bones into a tiny container on a pendant or key chain, which is what my children did. 

All in, it cost around 29,000 yen. Its only around 20,000 yen if you don't want to handle the bones yourself and aren't getting any extras, such as the pendants. The mobile crematorium worked out the best option for us. We got to say goodbye, even take photos, with Pyon one more time, in the privacy of our own driveway. We have her bones in an urn in her favorite spot in our living room. Moreover, the kids quite literally have a piece of her each! The pendants with Pyon's bones in them has really helped my children with the loss of their beloved pet.