Business

Death, Japanese-style

|TOKYO

THE ageing of Japan's population has yet to work to the benefit of those who look after old people whilst they are alive. But it has proved a boon to its funeral business. In 1993 some 878,000 Japanese died; in 1996 the figure was more than 900,000. For the foreseeable future, the number of deaths is expected to increase by around 2% a year.

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