The market for pet funerals is expanding as owners increasingly opt for cremations and entombing of the ashes, but the lack of a legal framework is causing trouble over crematoriums and funeral service fees.
"Could you put these 'children' and me in the same grave?" a woman in her 70s in the city of Chiba asked her son and his wife, referring to her two pet dogs.
According to the Japan Pet Food Association, there were 26.84 million pet dogs and cats in Japan in fiscal 2008, compared with 17.14 million people under the age of 15.