≪今回のworkshop≫
参加人数：20名（うち新人の方：3名）
本日もご参加いただきありがとうございました。
（会場のエアコンの調子が悪く大変でしたね。。。）
今回のトピックもどちらもとても面白い内容で、ディスカッションが盛り上がりました！
（詳しいディスカッションの様子はInstagramへ 掲載）
≪FIRST HALF≫
Stress Coping
Recently, awareness of stress management has been increasing throughout society. As an example, companies in Japan have been required by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare to conduct annual stress checks for their employees.
Although we often experience stress in our daily lives, the way we cope with it differs from person to person.
In psychology, ways of coping with stress are called stress coping, and the following three types are representative forms of coping.
Problem-Focused Coping
Efforts to solve or change the source of stress.
Examples:
• I searched for information to solve the problem.
• I studied hard for the exam.
Emotion-Focused Coping
Efforts to regulate and reduce emotional distress or negative feelings related to a stressful situation.
Examples:
• I talked with a close friend about my feelings.
• I tried to think about the situation in a positive way.
Avoidance Coping
Efforts to avoid, delay, or disengage from dealing with a stressful problem.
Examples:
• I spent hours watching videos instead of facing the problem.
• I cleaned my room thoroughly instead of studying for the next day’s exam.
Now, let’s think about your own stressors and coping strategies and share your experiences with your group members.
<Questions>
Q1. What was the most stressful thing for you recently? How did you deal with it—which type of coping did you use, and did it work well?
Q2. Your close friend is going through a stressful time in their personal life—for example, a breakup or family trouble. How would you support them? Which type of coping might help them most?
Q3. Imagine you made a big mistake at work and were strongly reprimanded by your manager. The mistake has already happened and can’t be undone. In this situation, which type of coping do you think would help you most and why?
(Please share a brief summary of Q3 in about one minute)
≪LATTER HALF≫
Visiting Ancestral Graves: Past, Present, and Future
In Japan, many people visit their family graves during the Obon period in August. Some of you might have visited your family graves during this holiday season as well. While the custom of visiting graves is seen across various cultures and religions worldwide, Japan’s Obon is said to be a unique tradition that fuses ancient Japanese ancestral worship with Buddhism. Although the practice of burying the deceased dates back to the Jomon period, regular grave visits as we know them today became common after the establishment of the Terauke (temple affiliation) system in the Edo period. Later, through the Meiji period, the practice of establishing family-based graves and cemeteries became firmly rooted.
On the other hand, the number of people choosing “Grave Closure” (closing down family graves) has been rising rapidly in recent years. According to statistics from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, the number of reinterments (relocating or closing graves) exceeds 160,000 per year, setting a record high and roughly doubling over the past decade. The underlying reasons include practical challenges such as geographical distance, maintenance costs, and the burden placed on future generations.
Today, we live under values that prioritize and respect individual rights, freedom, and self-realization. In this context, maintaining and passing down traditional family-centered graves is becoming increasingly difficult and often conflicts with modern lifestyles.
With these changes in mind, I would love to hear your thoughts and predictions on the future of grave visits and memorial services in Japan through the following questions.
Please be prepared to share your group’s opinion on Q4 at the end of the workshop.
<Questions>
Q1. Do you regularly visit your family’s grave? (Did you go during this year’s Obon?)
Q2. What do you think is the purpose or benefit of visiting graves? Do you consider it a duty as a descendant?
Q3. What options are you considering for your own grave in the future?
(e.g., entering the ancestral family grave, entering your partner’s family grave, not having a grave / tree burial or scattering of ashes, indoor ossuary, preferred location, etc.)
Q4. How do you predict the practice of visiting graves and memorializing the deceased in Japan will change in the future?
Extra question (if you have time).Do you personally wish to be remembered by someone forever after your death?