Family grave visiting

In Japan, it is common for each family to maintain the graves of their ancestors, and there are fewer cases of people being buried in individual graves than in the West, where people are buried in family graves. It is a kind of custom or Japanese tradition to have a grave called "Ancestral Grave," where the family's heir takes care of the grave and visits the spirits of the ancestors up to that time.

My sister visited me the other day, and we decided to visit the family grave together. I was a little surprised because when I lived in Sweden, we did not visit the graves very often. I visit the graves of my ancestors in Japan at least three times a year. The Japanese tradition was that the family would visit the graves of their ancestors on the three days of a year, the Spring Equinox, Obon, and Autumnal Equinox, and clean the graves. Nowadays, the nuclear family is spreading, and the birthrate is declining, so there is no one left to protect the graves of our ancestors and carry on the tradition. Graves around our family rave are becoming increasingly conspicuous as if they have not been visited for several months or years. The declining birthrate and population decline in Japan are becoming increasingly visible, making me feel a little sad. 🫣😐

日本では先祖代々のお墓を各家族が管理するのが一般的で、欧米のように個人のお墓で埋葬されるケースは家族のお墓に埋葬されるケースに比べると少ないと思います。「先祖代々の墓」と呼ばれるお墓があって、その家族の家督を継ぐものがその墓の管理を行い、それまでの先祖代々の霊を参ると言うのがある種のしきたり、又は日本の伝統ということだと思います。

先日、姉が遊びに来てくれたので、一緒に家族の墓に参りにいくことにしました。スウェーデンに住んでいた時、お墓にあまり行かないので少しびっくりしました。日本で先祖代々の墓に少なくとも年に3回訪れます。春分の日、お盆、秋分の日の3日間は家族で先祖のお墓に行き、墓の掃除を行うと言うのが昔ながらの伝統でした。今では核家族化が進み、それに少子化も拍車をかけ、先祖の墓を守り受け継ぐ人が無くなってきています。我が家の周りのお墓も、数ヵ月から数年来ていないようなお墓が目立つようになりました。日本の少子化と人口減少が目に見えてわかるようになり、少し寂しい気分になります😐🫣