Ashes living in cracks and hollows

Abstract

In Japan in the spring of 2022, a couple, Asuka and Novi, scattered the ashes of a twelve-year-old boy under a tree. Through intimate conversations, I explored their philosophy behind using the alternative mortuary rite “scattering of ashes”. They invited me into their daily lives as a filmmaker and researcher. Daily life revealed another side of the communion with the deceased by “greeting them at the altar”. My film, Ashes Living in Cracks and Hollows, is the result of this study. Additional research on local villagers in the Ibuki includes my grandmother and grand-aunt as references for understanding the tradition of mortuary rites in Japan, helping to enrich the investigation of how Japanese people navigate memories of the deceased and cope with grief.