The Internet has made it easier to plan everything from travel and weddings to careers. Now it is helping people prepare for what they may be the most reluctant to face: death.
Yahoo Japan Corp. this week launched the service Yahoo Ending (ending.yahoo.co.jp), a portal on its search-engine page that addresses the inevitable. In addition to deactivating the user's Yahoo account upon death, it can estimate the cost of a funeral, prepare a will and even find a cemetery.
Yahoo Japan sees an opportunity in "shukatsu," or end-of-life preparations, as the elderly make up a growing percentage of the population.