Aculture's attitude toward death is always going to be something of a mystery to outsiders, even ones who try to immerse themselves in the local language and customs. I had my own cultural shock when my wife's father passed away, and I experienced the Japanese funeral process for the first time.
He died of a heart attack at home in the middle of the night. I first saw his corpse in his futon, grasping a Buddhist rosary. Since, as far as I knew, he had no religious beliefs whatsoever, this struck me as incongruous, but I had little time to reflect since I and other male relatives were pressed into service moving his still-warm body to another room, where his female relations would prepare it for the funeral.
I'd never done anything like that in Ohio.