When did cremation become mandatory in Japan and what were the practices prior to that?

Answer 1

The answer: It isn't. It seems like it is, but that's not the case.

After World War II, it became the norm as it's a crowded country. With the very large metropolitan areas in Modern Japan, it was recognized as the most efficient and sanitary way of dealing with dead bodies. 99% plus of Japanese are cremated, as it's become the custom of nearly everybody.

Also, certainly municipalities such as Tokyo and Nagoya, have regulations that do not allow burial anymore (the sole exception being the emperor and empress). That may be what you are referring to, as "mandatory". That doesn't mean that the person can't be buried elsewhere in Japan if they so wish.

My understanding is that there are only a few cemeteries in Japan that allow burial. One is in a remote area and another is in Hokkaido. These are mainly for muslims, as Islam forbids cremation.

When you say "mandatory", you may be referring to the People's Republic of China, and their policy that cremation is mandatory for all Han Chinese. That is not every single person in China, however. Not sure about Taiwan or Singapore, though. It may also be mandatory.

The previous custom was burial, without embalming. Cremation, due to it's fuel consumption, was considered a luxury and reserved for the rich or holy. Now, it's recognized as just being resource smart, so it happens in over 99% of deaths in Japan. The final stop on Earth of nearly every Japanese person is a crematory.

And, a lot of people use the "land" thing to justify the high rate of cremation. While it is true that Japan's cities are very crowded, the island of Java is even more densely populated. However, as many are Muslim, they are buried. The Indonesians seem to make it work, so the question of whether it's a land thing or not seems moot.

Also, there are gigantic Japanese cemeteries. They take up a lot of space even if they are for just the ashes, but if you have ever seen some of these places, they are the size of a decent sized city. And, it's not cheap to get a cemetery plot. It's virtually impossible to buy a cemetery plot (for any price) in metropolitan Tokyo. More and more people are scattering or burying at sea because of this, although it's not popular, yet.

In summary, it is a pretty good way to go, since it's clean, fast, and less depressing for most people. However, a lot of people simply just don't like it, and for those people, they can be buried.