Drop dead gorgeous: Japanese undertaker wins corpse dressing contest in ...

Japanese undertaker wins corpse dressing contest in Tokyo



A 23-year-old undertaker has won a contest at Japan's biggest funeral exhibition testing the ancient art of dressing the dead.

Rino Terai beat three other finalists at Tokyo's Life Ending Industry EXPO 2017 on Thursday.

The event celebrates the art of purifying the souls of dead bodies by making the deceased look beautiful according to the Japanese ethnic religion of Shinto.



After the ritualistic competition, the winner said: 'I practiced every day to prepare for this competition.

'I took videos and made improvements by asking myself, does this look beautiful? Am I treating the deceased kindly?'

Shinto teaches that the soul is impure shortly after death. The process of dressing a body - usually in front of close relatives only - purifies the deceased spirit before it journeys to the 'other world'.



Kimura Kouki, head of Okuribito Academy, says Japan's ageing society has increased demand for undertakers with special skills.

'There are about 2,000 undertakers whose expertise is in dressing the deceased, but their skills vary a lot,' he said.

'I wanted this competition to be a way to spur undertakers to improve their skills.'



The four contestants dressed live volunteers lying on mattresses arranged on a stage.

Three judges observed their efforts as gently funeral music played in the background.

The four were judged on the grace of their movements and their ability to dress the body without revealing too much bare skin.

Akane Matsuda, who watched the competition, said: 'The movement of their hands were really beautiful.'