Cemetry Boom Backlash

[Mulboyne]

Asahi: Tokyo residents unsettled by boom in cemetery plots
In a vastly overcrowded metropolis where space is at a premium and land prices are among the highest in the world, Tokyo and its vicinity would seem an odd place for a construction boom in cemetery plots. That was until developers linked falling land prices with high demand for tombs, a market that is destined to grow with society's rapid aging. That said, most people object to having a cemetery built in front of their homes...These days, a funerary plot of 0.4 square meter with a first-class address in central Tokyo commands around 1 million yen. Most people, however, are willing to pay just under 200,000 yen. That means a plot in the outskirts of Tokyo, in areas nearly an hour's train ride away...Local governments, deluged with complaints from residents, are adopting ordinances to restrict cemetery construction...[I]n 2002, the city of Chiba set a rule allowing only religious organizations with head offices in the prefectural capital or a nearby municipality to build new cemeteries...That prompted developers to go further afield. In Ageo, Saitama Prefecture, city officials had hardly received a single cemetery construction application in years. But in 2004, three applications were submitted in the first six months. "If we had let things be, our city was going to end up full of tombs," said an official.