Japan: The Death Biz Isn't What It Used To Be

In Japan, few rituals are as tightly scripted as the send-off for the dearly departed. The typical Buddhist-inspired funeral involves a gathering the night before the cremation, a memorial service performed by a monk, and a cremation ceremony attended by family and close friends. The cost: an average of $22,000, or nearly four times the typical bill in the U.S. Despite the price tag, most grieving families fork over the yen rather than risk the embarrassment of being seen as cheapskates.

Now, though, there's another choice. Thanks to a handful of upstart mortuaries, the $22,000 funeral may go the way of the 39,000-point Nikkei average and department stores with white-gloved greeters. These discount funeral parlors have injected some much-needed price competition into a $15 billion industry that has long engaged in an elaborate system of kickbacks in which florists, caterers, and even monks pay up to half their fees to funeral directors who steer business their way. That's changing as Japanese become less willing to spend big portions of their inheritance on a funeral. "The industry is facing radical reform," says Hajime Himonya, editor of SOGI, an industry trade magazine .