A mortician who wanted to be an action star

“Hey, Susukida, could you handle my funeral?” “Whenever I receive a phone call asking me to take care of a funeral, I feel that I, out of all morticians, have been chosen by the deceased.” Mr. Harumasa Susukida, member of Urawa Church (Japan Christ Church), is the president of Hanawa Co. Ltd., specializing in Christian funerals. He founded the company in 2012 and is now well-known as a mortician who produces impressive funerals.

“I always try to be sincere, not businesslike, towards the deceased. This is appreciated by the family of the deceased and the attendees at the funerals. I will not tell a lie to the deceased as I believe that the deceased and God always watch me. This is my basic policy as a Christian mortician.”

He explained that the basic styles of funerals in Japan are more or less the same, but how they are conducted varies from mortician to mortician. Hanawa Co. Ltd. has its own style of performing funerals. For example, they prepare a memorial plaque with the name of the deceased and the date of death as a gift for the family, and give original thank you letters to the attendees. These are the company’s exclusive services and are warmly welcomed by families and attendees. But Susukida says, “The most important thing is sincerity. Anyone can produce funerals after they learn basic skills and have some experience, but we are selected because of our sincerity.”

Susukida has had a unique life. At the age of 18, he loved action movies and quit Nippon Sport Science University (Nippon Taiiku Daigaku) to become a pupil of Shin’ichi Chiba, who was one of the most famous action stars in Japan. He stayed with Chiba for one year and acted in hero shows, mainly for children. During this training period, he also worked part-time at various places, such as Tokyo Disneyland, construction sites, a real estate agency, and a dressmaker’s shop.

However, after two big accidents, he wasn’t able to continue as an action actor. He moved from job to job, including working for a funeral company, and started thinking about starting his own business as a mortician. “Then my wife said that to be a mortician is considered a dirty job and not very competitive.”

At the same time, Susukida lost his Christian father who had murmured to him, “You should go to church,” a few days before he passed away. He followed his father’s words and began attending Urawa Church nearby. It had been 20 years since he last went to church. One day, he was asked by the pastor to handle the funeral of one of his members, as the mortician working for the church had retired. This was his start as a specialist in Christian funerals.

Now he is sure about his faith. “I am just thankful that the deceased dares to choose me although I spent a long time living a selfish life and have caused a lot of trouble for my parents and my wife.” 

From Christian Shimbun, March 2, 2014
Excerpt translated by Tomoko Kato