Conducting Shizensou

After joining the society, please obtain a shizensou application form. There are two kinds of application forms:

Conducting Shizensou
1) The application that you file for yourself before your death; and
2) The application for a family/non-family member.

When requesting an application form, please enclose a stamped (80-yen), self-addressed envelope. On the application form, include information on when and where you plan to conduct shizensou, what methods you would like to use, and who will pay for it. The application will be incomplete unless it is returned to our office signed by the applicant and his or her seal is stamped on the form. For the applications made by surviving family members, please attach the original family register of the deceased and the official certificate that allows cremation or burial. Shizensou Association of Japan-the division that handles shizensou ceremonies-will review your application and prepare a contract.

A collective shizensou ceremony at sea or on a mountain costs between 48,000 and 110,000 yen. An individual ceremony at sea or on a mountain costs between 69,000 and 177,000 yen. Applicants will be required to make advance deposits. We will calculate the expenses for the ceremony and return the excess amount to the applicant. It will cost an additional 2,000 yen to process your application. When the application process is complete, we will conduct a shizensou ceremony for you.

If surviving family members can provide a place on a mountain or a boat for the shizensou ceremony they wish to conduct, please contact us as soon as possible. Please notify our headquarters so that we can determine whether it is possible to conduct a ceremony according to your plan. Please provide us with the details: the date, place, and methods of shizensou you wish to employ. Please submit a brief, written report of the ceremony that you conducted. We would like to publish it in our newsletter.