Funerals in Nagasaki─First Private, Second Formal

Nagasaki city, with a population today of 420,000, used to be a poor village until Ohmura Sumitada, a feudal lord, authorized its opening as a port and the initiation of commerce with Portuguese merchants in 1571. Not only trading merchants but also many Christians moved into this village and colonized it. More than 15 churches were built in the small area one after another, and the village resounded far and wide with church bells, reminiscent of Rome itself. So Nagasaki came to be called “Little Rome.” As a matter of fact, the village was donated to the Society of Jesus. The village seemed to grow and flourish, but its prosperous years failed to last, contrary to expectations. In 1614, the ban on Christianity was issued, which led to attacks on Catholicism, including the destruction of churches and the persecution of Christians. Churches were replaced by temples. Christians were supposed to disappear completely. So Buddhist ceremonies came to be held in Nagasaki. One such ceremony was the Bon Festival, which used to be held in the middle of the seventh month in the lunar calendar. The solar calendar introduced by the Meiji Government caused a upheaval of events and seasons. The middle of the seventh month (July) in the solar calendar is in the midst of the rainy season, not a suitable season for the Bon Festival. During the Bon Festival, Nagasaki people usually visit their ancestors’ grave with their family, clean and decorate the grave, and offer food to their ancestors. It is common for many families to hold a banquet at the graveyard to entertain their visitors, which in former times often resulted in the spread of plague. After a heated discussion, a conclusion was reached : the Bon Festival would be moved to mid-August (the eighth month). During the Bon Festival, people welcome the spirits of the deceased to visit their homes, to stay with their families until the last day of Bon, when the spirits have to return to Jodo, the Buddhist Pure Land. So the family make a ship (called Shorobune) for the spirit, carry it to the seashore, and launch it to sail to the West. This custom is called Shoronagashi. At first, the ships were quite humble affairs, but over time people wanted to make them fancier as they were believed to carry the spirits to Jodo. Many families who lose a family member start making such a ship. Shoronagashi is, in other words, a spirit boat procession unique to Nagasaki. On the last day of the Bon Festival, a large number of ships of various sizes are carried by family members and their friends to the seaside area to be sailed to so-called Jodo. The streets leading to the shore throng with ships and people. Firecrackers explode here and there, and earsplitting noises can be heard all around. People carrying the ships shout with passion. So the procession of the ships is noisy but joyous. Behavior generally disallowed in daily life and acts beyond the bounds of common sense are traditionally permitted only during Shoronagashi. On arriving at the spot to release the ship, however, deep sorrow falls on the revelers all of a sudden. Everybody is filled with a sense of loss and deprivation, recalling the feeling of a rather different event. Indeed, it seems akin to a funeral, or rather, a second funeral. To be more precise, this event ought to be considered the formal funeral. When the family member passed away, his or her funeral was performed. It was naturally a private funeral. Everything may well have been done all too quickly. Or the family might have had no time to think about reflecting their deceased member’s intentions. They simply followed the instructions of the funeral director. But if this Shoronagashi is regarded as the formal funeral, all the people of Nagasaki, regardless of faith, can join the Bon ceremony to ship their ancestors to their respective destinations, whether Jodo, Paradise or elsewhere. Even Christians, if they wish to, can join this event, which originated from Buddhism, without qualms, attesting to the fact that Christianity came first to Nagasaki, and Buddhism second. Nagasaki has grown larger through these faiths as a remarkable city