ARTISTS

In this work, the first in a series on death in contemporary Japanese society, artist Maiko Jinushi visits Yanaka Cemetery, one of Tokyo’s most venerable burial grounds, which is home to many historically significant graves. Her camera focuses on power shovels digging up and removing gravestones, a process that takes place when a grave’s contract has expired and no descendants remain to pay the maintenance fees. Such scenes have become increasingly common since the 2000s—a symptom of an ageing society. Interviews with the cemetary’s caretakers and operational staff are interwoven into the footage, revealing how functional systems intersect with existential questions of remembrance and traditions of mourning at burial sites.