If someone dies whose name is not known, or who leaves behind no money or known kin, the person's ashes may end up in an anonymous grave with other "muen botoke" remains.
The term refers to either a dead person whose identity is not known or someone who died but had no known living relatives or financial resources to arrange for a standard grave. The names of the deceased, if known, remain only on muen botoke records kept briefly by local governments.
A temple that has voluntarily been performing free religious rites for muen botoke has recently begun offering what may be the least expensive graves in Japan as an alternative to an anonymous grave.