En Japón asear y arreglar a los cadáveres es todo un arte. Sayuri Takahashi se arrodilla con gracia junto a una mujer inmóvil, le toma un brazo, luego otro, las piernas … y la viste a la luz de velas artificiales.
Twenty-seven-year-old Sayuri Takahashi (top) performs her skills in “nokan” — translated as “encoffinment”, or the preparation dead bodies before cremation, during a contest at the Life Ending Industry EXPO 2015 in Tokyo on December 8, 2015. More than 200 companies doing businesses related to the end of life, such as funerals, are participating in the three-day exhibition. Takahashi, the competition winner who was awarded a trophy and an undisclosed sum, said she started her job three years ago after learning about the profession following a death in her own family where the body was attended to by a nokanshi, a specialist in the field. AFP PHOTO / TOSHIFUMI KITAMURA / AFP / TOSHIFUMI KITAMURA
Twenty-seven-year-old Sayuri Takahashi (top) performs her skills in “nokan” — translated as “encoffinment”, or the preparation dead bodies before cremation, during a contest at the Life Ending Industry EXPO 2015 in Tokyo on December 8, 2015. More than 200 companies doing businesses related to the end of life, such as funerals, are participating in the three-day exhibition. Takahashi, the competition winner who was awarded a trophy and an undisclosed sum, said she started her job three years ago after learning about the profession following a death in her own family where the body was attended to by a nokanshi, a specialist in the field. AFP PHOTO / TOSHIFUMI KITAMURA / AFP / TOSHIFUMI KITAMURA
Twenty-seven-year-old Sayuri Takahashi (top) performs her skills in “nokan” — translated as “encoffinment”, or the preparation dead bodies before cremation, during a contest at the Life Ending Industry EXPO 2015 in Tokyo on December 8, 2015. More than 200 companies doing businesses related to the end of life, such as funerals, are participating in the three-day exhibition. Takahashi, the competition winner who was awarded a trophy and an undisclosed sum, said she started her job three years ago after learning about the profession following a death in her own family where the body was attended to by a nokanshi, a specialist in the field. AFP PHOTO / TOSHIFUMI KITAMURA / AFP / TOSHIFUMI KITAMURA
Twenty-seven-year-old Sayuri Takahashi (top) performs her skills in “nokan” — translated as “encoffinment”, or the preparation dead bodies before cremation, during a contest at the Life Ending Industry EXPO 2015 in Tokyo on December 8, 2015. More than 200 companies doing businesses related to the end of life, such as funerals, are participating in the three-day exhibition. Takahashi, the competition winner who was awarded a trophy and an undisclosed sum, said she started her job three years ago after learning about the profession following a death in her own family where the body was attended to by a nokanshi, a specialist in the field. AFP PHOTO / TOSHIFUMI KITAMURA / AFP / TOSHIFUMI KITAMURA
Twenty-seven-year-old Sayuri Takahashi (top) bows after displaying her skills in “nokan” — translated as “encoffinment”, or the preparation dead bodies before cremation, during a contest at the Life Ending Industry EXPO 2015 in Tokyo on December 8, 2015. More than 200 companies doing businesses related to the end of life, such as funerals, are participating in the three-day exhibition. Takahashi, the competition winner who was awarded a trophy and an undisclosed sum, said she started her job three years ago after learning about the profession following a death in her own family where the body was attended to by a nokanshi, a specialist in the field. AFP PHOTO / TOSHIFUMI KITAMURA / AFP / TOSHIFUMI KITAMURA
Twenty-seven-year-old Sayuri Takahashi (L) prays before displaying her skills in “nokan” — translated as “encoffinment”, or the preparation dead bodies before cremation, during a contest at the Life Ending Industry EXPO 2015 in Tokyo on December 8, 2015. More than 200 companies doing businesses related to the end of life, such as funerals, are participating in the three-day exhibition. Takahashi, the competition winner who was awarded a trophy and an undisclosed sum, said she started her job three years ago after learning about the profession following a death in her own family where the body was attended to by a nokanshi, a specialist in the field. AFP PHOTO / TOSHIFUMI KITAMURA / AFP / TOSHIFUMI KITAMURA
TO GO WITH AFP STORY “JAPON-SOCIETE-MORT” BY NATSUKO FUKUE AND KYOKO HASEGAWA This picture taken on December 8, 2015 shows Sayuri Takahashi (L), 27, offering a prayer before displaying her skills in “nokan” — translated as “encoffinment”, or the preparation dead bodies before cremation, during a contest at the Life Ending Industry EXPO 2015 in Tokyo. More than 200 companies doing businesses related to the end of life, such as funerals, are participating in the three-day exhibition. Takahashi, the competition winner who was awarded a trophy and an undisclosed sum, said she started her job three years ago after learning about the profession following a death in her own family where the body was attended to by a nokanshi, a specialist in the field. AFP PHOTO / TOSHIFUMI KITAMURA / AFP / TOSHIFUMI KITAMURA
TO GO WITH AFP STORY “JAPON-SOCIETE-MORT” BY NATSUKO FUKUE AND KYOKO HASEGAWA
This picture taken on December 8, 2015 shows Sayuri Takahashi (top), 27, performing her skills in “nokan” — translated as “encoffinment”, or the preparation dead bodies before cremation, during a contest at the Life Ending Industry EXPO 2015 in Tokyo. More than 200 companies doing businesses related to the end of life, such as funerals, are participating in the three-day exhibition. Takahashi, the competition winner who was awarded a trophy and an undisclosed sum, said she started her job three years ago after learning about the profession following a death in her own family where the body was attended to by a nokanshi, a specialist in the field. AFP PHOTO / TOSHIFUMI KITAMURA / AFP / TOSHIFUMI KITAMURA
A sus 27 años participó en un concurso de especialistas en el arreglo y vestido de los muertos antes de las exequias y la incineración, una profesión en declive en las grandes ciudades japonesas, y en menor medida en los pueblos.
Un arte célebre en el mundo gracias a “Despedidas”, Oscar en 2009 a la mejor película de habla no inglesa, en la que un violonchelista acaba dedicándose a ello tras la disolución de su orquesta. Una forma de enseñar con elegancia los ritos de preparación de los cuerpos y la bondad de los “nokanshi” quienes los practican.
“La gentileza y la cortesía con la familia del difunto y la eficacia son esenciales”, explicó a la AFP, uno de los tres jueces del concurso de nokanshi organizado esta semana en Tokio. “No debe ser mecánico”.
Kimura, con 30 años de oficio a sus espaldas, ayudó al protagonista de “Despedidas”.
– Penuria después del tsunami –
Por primera vez en el país, los especialistas del “nokan” participaron en una competición. Dispusieron de 15 minutos para vestir delante del público y de los jueces a modelos tumbadas en futones, mientras un guitarrista tocaba una melodía.
“Queríamos que el público conociera mejor a los nokanshi, escasearon mucho después del desastre de 2011”, declaró el organizador del concurso Koki Kimura en alusión al terremoto y tsunami que causaron más de 18.500 muertos en el nordeste de Japón en marzo de ese año.
Las modelos llevaban puesto una especie de vestido de ceremonia para ocultar la piel, el método más empleado, por pudor, para vestir el cuerpo cuando la familia está presente. Los especialistas les ponían las prendas por debajo de ese vestido, que luego retiraban para que se viera el resultado final.
El trabajo de los nokanshi equivale en parte al de las pompas fúnebres en Occidente, pero en el archipiélago el embalsamamiento es poco habitual.
Takahashi ganó el concurso frente a otros cinco especialistas. Entró en la profesión hace tres años, tras la muerte de un familiar arreglado por un nokanshi. “La cara de mi pariente se volvió serena”, explicó a la AFP. También influyó -dice- la película “Despedidas”.
“Me siento muy feliz -reconoce la mujer- cuando los familiares del difunto me dicen que están agradecido por lo que hice”.
– Monje guapo –
También se organizó un concurso de “monjes budistas guapos”, acicalados con telas doradas, violetas o negras. El objetivo: hacer que las familias no dejen de lado la tradición de sermones fúnebres, lecturas de sutras y cánticos.
“El número de fallecimientos alcanzará un punto álgido en Japón en 2040 pero muchos ancianos optan por dejar de usar el sepulcro de sus antepasados”, declaró Mayumi Tominaga, portavoz de la exposición.
Lo ganó un monje de la isla de Hokaido (norte), Shouyo Takiyoshi, con canciones melancólicas.
Otro eligió el kárate para sorprender a un centenar de espectadores rompiendo con la mano una pila de 10 tejas. “¡Ha!”, gritó durante el estruendo. Luego se hizo la calma: “Siento haberos asustado”.
