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Due to the recent world economic depression, salaries have dropped or remained stagnant and it’s become quite difficult to find a lucrative job. To supplement income, many people have taken up smaller second jobs.

Today I would like to introduce something unique in the world of second jobs; a proxy service business for visiting family graves.

I’m not sure about the custom in other countries, but in Japan it is pretty important to periodically visit family graves. However, there are a lot of people who can’t personally go to their own family graves because they are too old, live too far away, are too busy, and so on. This proxy service commonly includes weeding, cleaning (typical chores for the living relatives), and praying.

What’s more, some agents offer video recordings of the maintenance and prayers. The prices depend on the level of service and range from around ¥10,000~¥20,000 (US$125~250). And if you work as a grave visiting agent for this kind of company, you will get about 50% of the fee. Asking someone else to visit your family grave for you might sound weird, but it is also true that there are many people who consider this service pretty helpful.

Source: R25

This is JAPAN Style!