Hashime Sato, a 60-year-old resident of the city of Ichinoseki, climbed up a hill with her son in her hometown on a sunny day in late November to pay respects to her late husband, Sadao, whose ashes are contained in a "grave" but without a monumentlike gravestone typically found in a cemetery.
Sadao passed away in late September at age 67 and his body was cremated. The ashes were interred in early November under a "urajiroyoraku" (Menziesia multiflora) shrub, a type of azalea he cherished, in a wooded area in the Iwate Prefecture city, which has a population of around 125,000.
Sato said she has already visited his resting place many times. "I like this place very much," she said. When her husband was alive, the couple used to go hiking together often, she said.