Japan has opened its first-ever drive-thru funeral parlor to cater to a growing elderly population that isn’t mobile enough to pay their respects in person, The Japan Times reported.
During a tour over the weekend, people lined up to get a look at the Aishoden funeral parlor in Ueda, where mourners can pull up to a window and enter their names and addressses on a device handed to them by a waiting receptionist.
The mourners then hand over a condolence offering and incense — rituals that would be performed at an altar at regular Buddhist funerals, the newspaper reported.
The faces of the mobile mourners and their incense offerings are shown on monitors in the funeral home so others can take note, the newspaper reported.
Company President Masao Ogiwara said the move should help add some convenience to people's daily lives in a nation where the population is aging even as the birth rate plummets.
“It responds to the feelings of people who have given up on participating in funerals,” Kazuhiro Ogura told the newspaper, adding even if the mourner can’t get out of the car, “I think the chief mourner would also be happy about the fact that they came.”
Japan isn't the first country to offer drive-thru funerals.
In 2014, a Michigan funeral home tested out the idea, also for mourners with disabilities. When drivers pulled up at the window, sensors underneath the pavement would sense the weight of the car and a set of curtains would open, revealing an open casket. Drivers had three minutes of observance as music played, the Associated Press reported.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.