Grave Mound

In Japanese funerary custom, it is considered important for the family of a deceased person to continue to tend their grave and make offerings there. However, this is not always possible - for example, if a person dies with no living relatives to mourn them, or in the aftermath of a disaster where remains cannot be identified. The gravestones of such individuals are collected together in mounds called "muenzuka" (無縁塚, "without-relations mound"). These graves are tended en masse by the local community, and memorial services are held to honour the dead.

Fatal Frame Series

In Fatal Frame III, the Shrine Carpenters were honoured with a grave mound in the Grave Courtyard. There is a large grave mound in the backyard of Haibara Hospital, possibly a memorial for Getsuyuu Syndrome patients who died there. In Fatal Frame V, failed bridegrooms were enshrined in a large grave mound on the eastern side of the Forbidden Valley, near the path to the House of Joining. Remaining of Minakami Village in Fatal Frame II were also enshrined together in the Old Tree, rather than in Minakami Cemetery with the other villagers.

Japanese Culture
Religion
Buddhism - Shinto
Japanese Ghosts/Creatures
Funayūrei - Goryō - Hitodama - Ikiryō - Onryō - Ubume - Yōkai - Yūrei
Specific Japanese Ghosts/Creatures
Oiwa - Okiku - Yuki-onna
Terms
Dosojin - Grave Mound - Hannya Mask - Higanbana - Jizo - Kaidan - Miko - Mukoyōshi - Sanzu River - Shimenawa - Toro-Nagashi - Wara Ningyo
Locations
Northeastern Japan - Shizuoka - Sugisawa Village - Tono
Media and Entertainment
Kagome, Kagome - Ringu