Would you go on a Crematorium cruise?

Those innovative people, the Japanese, are copying ancient Vikings, by choosing to cremate their departed loved ones on crematorium ships and getting a cruise out of it, to boot. The Nippon Foundation thinks they have the answer to Japan’s cramped urban centres, where there are long waiting lists for grave sites. Their solution is called Somaru, a 26 ton ship with a car ferry, ceremony hall and four purpose-built crematoria. Rather surprisingly, there are distinct advantages to cremations on cruise ships: they don’t have large construction costs, nor do they need land, their mobility means there is no opposition from residents of areas where crematorium construction is planned, and, of course, they allow for the scattering of a loved one’s ashes at sea.