In Japan, women challenging burial traditions
Local Japanese News In English
Snow had fallen at dawn one recent morning and the tombstones were dressed in white when Masako Hiraiwa took her daily stroll through Aoyama cemetery. A stray cat slipped daintily past a row of old stone markers.
Such a peaceful setting seemed an unlikely inspiration for a social rebellion women are waging against an ancient Japanese cultural tradition: being buried with their husbands' families.
You might call it the final frontier for women's equality in Japan.
The battle has struck Hiraiwa's own extended clan broadside. Her oldest brother's wife has decided to make arrangements for burial outside the family plot, stunning Hiraiwa's elderly parents. (Los Angeles Times) Source: Source