some areas in japan also had to use mass graves after the 2011 tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. in japan, most people are cremated after they die. however, there were too many victims, and not enough kerosene to cremate them or dry ice to keep the bodies from decomposing. in one town, cremating all the town's victims would have taken 100 days. because of this, some towns had to use mass graves to bury the dead.