Kotsuage

By Crusader1307

An unusual and Ancient Japanese Funerary Custom, ''Kotsuage'' (''Bone Picking'') is still practiced by some. The process – which can be traced to 8th Century AD Japan, is a lengthy Ritual which involves much of the ''Living Family'' of The Deceased. As is custom, Cremation was the preferred method of ''Entering Eternity'' in Medieval Japan. As with most examples of Cremation, - while a body ''burns'' to ash, a large amount of bone (skeletal) can remain. In Modern times, these ''pieces'' are rendered into ash by means of a ''Cremulator'' (or special Industrial Blender to pulverize remaining bone into powder). But in Feudal Japan, ''Kotsuage'' was a required Ritual after Cremation. Normally, the body is burned with ash and remaining bone ''laid out'' on a special plaque. Selected Family Members kneel near the Cremated remains – and using ''long chopsticks'', pick through the ash to recover any remaining bone. The bone is identified (foot, leg, hand etc). and placed ''in order'' into a special Urn. In this way, the ''skeleton'' is ''properly re-assembled''. The remaining ash is like wise gathered and stored. Many times it can take as many a 4 to 6 Urns to complete The Ritual. The Urns are taken Home and normally venerated for up to 30-days. After this time, it is customary to transport The Urns to a Cemetery for final ''burial'' or Memorial.