About 40 percent of Tokyo residents who responded to a metro government questionnaire say they have no burial plot and their hometown is just too far away to consider as a final resting place.
In the heart of Tokyo, it costs nearly ¥10 million to purchase a 3-sq.-meter cemetery plot in perpetuity.
With the rapid influx of people into cities, the situation surrounding graves has undergone drastic change. While demand for graves has been weakening in less-populated areas of the country, it is growing in urban areas.