<p>I was curious about this question and I found some sources that might answer this question more or less:</p>

<p><strong>...in ancient Japanese society, prior to the introduction of Buddhism and the funerary practice of cremation, the corpse was exposed in a manner very similar to the Tibetan sky burial.</strong></p>

<p>This excerpt is from the wiki article on <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Excarnation" rel="nofollow">Excarnation</a>.</p>

<p>The following link opens to a part in an ebook that might help answer this question:</p>

<p><a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=CZM2AQAAQBAJ&amp;pg=PA118&amp;lpg=PA118&amp;dq=Excarnation+~Japanese&amp;source=bl&amp;ots=DF_qKCS7PC&amp;sig=H9zvNsP284SQteLueDyDmyvWmjI&amp;hl=en&amp;sa=X&amp;ved=0ahUKEwjQurPevcDKAhVW2mMKHS6ADKkQ6AEIMTAG#v=onepage&amp;q=Excarnation%20~Japanese&amp;f=false" rel="nofollow">https://books.google.com/books?id=CZM2AQAAQBAJ&amp;pg=PA118&amp;lpg=PA118&amp;dq=Excarnation+~Japanese&amp;source=bl&amp;ots=DF_qKCS7PC&amp;sig=H9zvNsP284SQteLueDyDmyvWmjI&amp;hl=en&amp;sa=X&amp;ved=0ahUKEwjQurPevcDKAhVW2mMKHS6ADKkQ6AEIMTAG#v=onepage&amp;q=Excarnation%20~Japanese&amp;f=false</a></p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-01-23T18:43:23.927Z
Can you quote a sentence or two from the eBook which would tend to answer the question? I didn't notice one that seemed relevant.
ChrisW
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-01-23T18:13:42.090Z
2016-01-23T22:56:17.010Z
2016-01-23T22:56:17.010Z
Lowbrow
<p>I remember reading something about sky burial like practices being done in pre-Buddhist Japan where the corpse was placed on top a tall platform to be picked clean by birds, but when Buddhism was introduced, they brought with them the practice of cremation which then became standard. In Shinto, death is considered unclean, so the fact that the Buddhists had formal funeral rites made Buddhist style funerals popular very quickly, so the sky burial like practices were abandoned.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-01-24T05:19:58.237Z
2016-01-24T05:19:58.237Z
Bakmoon
<p>In the Chinese Wikipedia article on <a href="https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%A4%A9%E8%91%AC" rel="nofollow">sky burial</a>, there's a section saying that sky burial is illegal in Japan:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>棄屍嫌疑</p>
  
  <p>在某些地方，天葬的行為，可能觸犯遺棄屍體的罪行。</p>
  
  <p>日本</p>
  
  <p>刑法第190條（死体損壊罪）</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Google translation:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Dumped suspect [My assumption for translation: Illegality of
  abandoning bodies]</p>
  
  <p>In some places, burial behavior may violate abandoned corpses offense.</p>
  
  <p>Japan</p>
  
  <p>Penal Code section 190 (dead body damage Huai crime)</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Did Japanese Buddhists once use sky burial for their dead? Or is the ban just a broader ban that just happens to include sky burial?</p>

<history><traditions><death><food><japan>
Did Japanese Buddhists once use sky burial?
# Did Japanese Buddhists once use sky burial?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2016-01-23)

In the Chinese Wikipedia article on [sky burial](https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%A4%A9%E8%91%AC), there's a section saying that sky burial is illegal in Japan:

> 棄屍嫌疑
>
> 在某些地方，天葬的行為，可能觸犯遺棄屍體的罪行。
>
> 日本
>
> 刑法第190條（死体損壊罪）

Google translation:

> Dumped suspect [My assumption for translation: Illegality of
> abandoning bodies]
>
> In some places, burial behavior may violate abandoned corpses offense.
>
> Japan
>
> Penal Code section 190 (dead body damage Huai crime)

Did Japanese Buddhists once use sky burial for their dead? Or is the ban just a broader ban that just happens to include sky burial?

**Tags:** history, traditions, death, food, japan


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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2016-01-23. Score: 3

I was curious about this question and I found some sources that might answer this question more or less:

**...in ancient Japanese society, prior to the introduction of Buddhism and the funerary practice of cremation, the corpse was exposed in a manner very similar to the Tibetan sky burial.**

This excerpt is from the wiki article on [Excarnation](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Excarnation).

The following link opens to a part in an ebook that might help answer this question:

<https://books.google.com/books?id=CZM2AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA118&lpg=PA118&dq=Excarnation+~Japanese&source=bl&ots=DF_qKCS7PC&sig=H9zvNsP284SQteLueDyDmyvWmjI&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjQurPevcDKAhVW2mMKHS6ADKkQ6AEIMTAG#v=onepage&q=Excarnation%20~Japanese&f=false>

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: Can you quote a sentence or two from the eBook which would tend to answer the question? I didn't notice one that seemed relevant.  

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### Answer by username_3 on 2016-01-24. Score: 0

I remember reading something about sky burial like practices being done in pre-Buddhist Japan where the corpse was placed on top a tall platform to be picked clean by birds, but when Buddhism was introduced, they brought with them the practice of cremation which then became standard. In Shinto, death is considered unclean, so the fact that the Buddhists had formal funeral rites made Buddhist style funerals popular very quickly, so the sky burial like practices were abandoned.


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