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"Look for me tomorrow . . . ". . .and you shall find me protesting yet another graveyard" There Are Other Ways Who Really Benefits from This?

A: Before I answer that, let me pose another question: where do these gawdawful flame-orange signs lead to? Must be important, since there used to be dozens of them throughout Fujino. Must be doubly important, since they were placed on the roadsides illegally. The answer to both questions can found in the second photo, taken from a distance across a valley in Fujino's Shinobara district. Carved out of the forest and mountainside is a graveyard, a very large graveyard. The Sagamiko-Fujino Memorial Park. Now, perhaps graveyards are necessary (although I have already instructed those around me to dump—well, okay, "gently scatter"— my ashes near Haystack Rock off the Oregon coast when it's my turn to go), but this particular graveyard is an abomination. Its location is an eyesore across the valley, its remote location is poor for attracting urbanites to plant their loved ones (sales of plots are said to be unsatisfactory), and anyway, given the scarce amount of land available in the area, how many more graveyards does Fujino need? Which leads me to my third question: how many graveyards are there in Fujino already? Answer: I don't know, but a lot. Hundreds; thousands maybe. In premodern Japan, the people of Fujino had their own private family graveyards, like the one in the third photo. Most were located on hillsides like this one on the hill above Green Gables, serving their purpose while minimally disrupting the natural flow of things. In time, some of them were reclaimed naturally by the semi-tropical environment, and those that weren't are still used by the old families living here. Even if you count the new people who have moved into Fujino, the destruction of Fujino's remaining forested mountainsides to provide eternal resting places for them is not in Fujino's best interests. As though the fait accompli of the Sagamiko-Fujino Memorial Park shown here weren't bad enough, the town council has been trying to ram through approval to construct yet another massive graveyard, also in the Shinobara district. Opposition is fierce, but there seems to be something quite underhanded going on, and the people living in Shinobara are especially incensed. The newly planned graveyard has been rationalized by saying it will "enliven" the economy of the Fujino and Shinobara areas, yet this is clearly a pipe dream; as someone quipped, using different characters to write the words, it's not going to be funny when Fujino becomes known as fu-ji-no ("no-death-field") and Shinobara as shi-no-bara ("field-of-death"). It is said that the only residents really in favor of the graveyard are those who figure to get something out of selling their land. The people who represent the next generations, the young families who have voted with their feet by moving into Shinobara, those who want to make it a better place, are strongly opposed. Most have moved here precisely here because they value the natural environment that remains in the Fujino area, yet now they find that developers are trying to make the worst possible use of that environment. Worst because a graveyard can virtually never be reclaimed for other purposes; worst because it will bring in no income to the local economy on a continuing basis. Worst because the only "visitors" it will serve to attract are those bringing flowers to graves once or twice a year, and it will positively discourage those who might have otherwise wanted to come to Fujino to live and contribute. While the planned graveyard project has been accompanied by grandiose promises of a new center for the elderly and hot springs rehabilitation hospital, no studies have even been done to assess need, and no enterprises have been lined up to back the project. The only thing that has gone forward is the plan to sell the land to the graveyard developers. Oh, and remember? Fujino is attempting to attract people to live in the town by claiming to be an "Art Resort" sensitive to the natural environment. Look once again at the signs in the first photo. To the right of the orange signs, down low, is another small hand-painted sign, meant to suggest the proper priorities to both local residents and visitors. It reads "Shizen o taisetsu ni . . .": "Take care of nature". How sad that it takes flame-orange signs to remind us of something so basic. To return to your previous location, use your browser's "BACK" button, or click your heels together three times while saying, "there's no place like home" . . .

Green Gables: A Contemplative Companion to Fujino Township
by Norman Havens nhavens@gol.com
Updated: July 2, 2004

URL: http://www2.gol.com/users/nhavens/