日本喪葬業繁榮 或成“死亡國度”

Across from a noodle shop in a Yokohama suburb, Hisayoshi Teramura's inn looks much like any other small lodgingthat dotsthe port city. Occasionally, it's even mistaken for a love hotel by couples hankering forsome time beneath the sheets.

橫濱郊區的一家麪館對面，寺村久佳的小店看起來和遍佈在這個港口城市中的其他小旅館沒什麼差別。偶爾還會有想共度春宵的情侶將其誤認爲是情人酒店。

But Teramura's place is neither a love nest nor a pit stopfor tired travelers. The white and grey tiled building is a corpse hotel, its 18 deceased guests tucked upin refrigerated coffins.

但是，寺村的小店既不是愛巢，也不是疲憊旅客的休息站。這棟白牆灰瓦的建築是一座存屍所，有18位具屍體被安放在冷凍的棺材裏。

"We tell them we only have cold rooms," Teramura quipswhen asked how his staff respond to unwarylovers looking for a room.

在被問及他的員工如何答覆那些想訂房間的粗心情侶時，寺村俏皮地說道：“我們告訴他們這裏只有冰冷的房間。”

The daily rate at Lastel, as it is known, is 12,000 yen ($157). For that fee, bereavedfamilies can check in their dead while they wait their turn in the queue for one of the city's overworked crematoriums.

據悉，拉斯特爾存屍所每日的費用是1.2萬日元（合157美元）。支付了這筆費用後，失去親人的家庭就可以讓逝者“入住”，一邊排隊等待將屍體火化。橫濱市的每個火葬場都十分繁忙。

Death is a rare booming market in stagnantJapan and Teramura's new venture is just one example of how businessmen are trying to tapit.

在經濟蕭條的日本，喪葬市場是極少數發展繁榮的市場之一。寺村的新企業只是商人們試圖從中贏利的一個範例。

In 2010, according to government records, 1.2 million people passed away, giving the country an annual death rate of 0.95 percent versus 0.84 percent in the United States, which is also the global average.

根據政府的記錄，2010年日本有120萬人去世，這使日本的年死亡率達到了0.95%，而美國的年死亡率——也是全球平均值——爲0.84%。

The rate of deaths is on the increase. Last year, there were an extra 55,000 dead and over the past decade, an average of 23,000 more people have died each year in Japan.

日本的死亡率一直在上升。去年比前年的死亡人數多了5.5萬人，在過去十年中，日本年平均死亡人數比以前多了2.3萬人。

Annual deaths are expected to peak at 1.66 million in 2040 as the bulkof the nation's baby boomer generation expires. By then, Japan's population will have shrunk by around 20 million people, an unprecedented die off for a nation neither at war or blightedby famine.

日本年死亡人數預計在2040年會達到166萬的高峯，那時日本大多數“嬰兒潮”一代將去世。到那時日本人口將縮減至2000萬人，對於一個期間既沒有經歷戰爭也沒有遭遇饑荒的國家來說，這種人口縮減是史無前例的。

Although two decades of economic malaisehas weighed on incomes, a tradition on splashing outon ceremonies means the Japanese still pay an average of 1.2 million yen on flowers, urns, coffins and other funeral expenses. It adds up to a market worth a whopping$21 billion a year, or twice what Americans spend annually on funerals.

儘管二十年來的經濟蕭條影響了人們的收入，但是日本葬禮鋪張的傳統意味着日本人平均仍要花費120萬日元，用於鮮花、骨灰甕、棺材和其他葬禮支出上。合計起來，日本喪葬市場每年花費多達210億美元，相當於每年美國人在葬禮上花費的兩倍。

"There's been a rush into the market," says Teramura, who founded cemetery developer company Nichiryoku 45 years ago. Even Japan's second biggest retail chain, Aeon, rail companies and the nation's biggest farmers association, Japan Agriculture are getting into the business, he notes.

寺村在45年前創建了陵園開發公司覺王山陵苑。他說：“有許多人想搶佔這一市場。”他指出，甚至連日本第二大連鎖零售企業永旺集團、鐵路公司和日本最大的農民協會“日本農業”都在涉足這一行業。