Ageing Japan - Unclaimed burial urns pile up in Japan amid fraying social ties

Kazuyuki Kitami, a city official of Yokosuka, holds a lantern as he visits a facility which keeps the unclaimed burial urns containing ashes of the dead in Yokosuka, Japan September 11, 2018. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

YOKOSUKA, Japan (Reuters) - Unclaimed urns containing ashes of the dead are piling up by the thousands across Japan, creating storage headaches and reflecting fraying family ties and economic pressures in a rapidly ageing nation.

The identities of the dead, cremated at public expense, are usually known. But in most cases, relatives either refuse or don't respond to requests to collect their remains. Burials can be costly and time-consuming, a burden on family members who may hardly know the deceased relative.