Urbanization has reached the point in modern Japan where even the dead are leaving the countryside.</PARAGRAPH> <PHOTO> <TABLE WIDTH='250' ALIGN='RIGHT' BORDER='0'> <TR> <TD><IMG ALT='News photo' BORDER='0' SRC='../images/photos2007/nn20070208f3a.jpg' WIDTH='250' HEIGHT='193'/></TD> </TR> <TR> <TD><FONT SIZE='1'><B>A family from Kashiwa, Chiba Pref., surrounds a new grave near their home, reflecting the growing trend of removing the remains of kin from countryside cemeteries for reburial in urban areas. </B> PHOTO COURTESY OF ZENYUSEKI/KYODO</FONT></TD> </TR> <TABLE> </PHOTO> <PARAGRAPH>Rather than make the trek to some far-flung corner of the country to pay their respects to their ancestors, more city dwellers are looking into bringing the remains of their loved ones closer to home.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>Memorial Art no Onoya, a major funeral and memorial service firm in Tokyo, said it received about 650 inquiries last year -- a sharp jump from several dozen inquiries in other years -- from people interested in transferring the ashes of family members.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>Some big funeral homes are forecasting a rush to reinter ashes as the first postwar baby boomers start retiring this year at age 60.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>Onoya held a seminar late last year in Tokyo after a handbook the company put out on the transfer of family burial sites generated considerable interest. The company plans to hold another, larger gathering this month.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>Zenkoku Yuryo Sekizaiten –

, a Tokyo-based national association of 400 gravestone dealers, said the number of inquiries about reburials is soaring.

Some of those interested in reburial note that they have no intention of returning to their countryside birthplaces after living in the city for more than 40 years.

Others comment that they want to take the burden off relatives who have had to care for their family graves. And then there is the expense; some pensioners simply cannot afford the cost of making an overnight trip to a countryside cemetery.

Finally, there are those who say they worry that their children might not visit family graves in unfamiliar places.