Podcast No. 34 in English
Today is July 28th, 2021.
This is your host, Yuusuke Wada, probably the only funeral business podcaster discussing the death industry business of Japan in English.
I’m also the researcher of the Reform of Death and the journey to the end of life.
No. 33 was about a startup company in Israel called Memotree.
It’s a technology that implants DNA into a tree (plants) and encrypts and uses it as a natural memory.
These trees replace tombstones and set the carbon offset.
I had a zoom meeting with the founder.
Also, I had a meeting with another startup company in Japan that uses iris of your eyes and creates an artwork out through image manipulation and encryption that becomes the key to the virtual cemetery.
The system is called “viz Prizma”.
All of these are new technologies that defies the current funeral tradition.
Traditions are there to bring order and rules at the time of turmoil.
People need to rethink what a funeral is really all about.
I have a page on this website explaining Japanese Funerals.
You might want to take a look at it.
I will need to discuss this as a different episode as one of the deep dives.
Today’s talk is about a special paper that expands (pops up) like braille characters when heated through a special roller.
Paper is printed using a regular inkjet printer.
Then, the computer sends emboss data to a separate printer and this heater.
This means you print twice (2 data).
One without the emboss, it can be colored, and the other, plain emboss data.
When the paper is passing through the “fixer” that heats the paper, the emboss image expands.
Minolta, in the 1990’s had a copier that was sold to the visually impared market for braille printing.
But this was not so accurate since the copiers were huge and bulky, and paper tended to skew while in the copier. But these were also used for making Christmas cards.
I’ll be working with that technology as well.
Need to make a marketing value.
Mixing the iris artwork and this emboss creator, we can create myriads of only one of a kind artwork. This can also be one of a hash number for decryption, used as a missing link in a chain.
What’s needed in the funeral industry is a breakthrough in mind.
These are questions that need to be asked.
Why are there rituals?
What benefits can rituals bring about in funerals?
My company started using computer images for creating photos used for funerals.
I went around selling many systems to the undertakers.
These made funeral parlors’ jobs more controllable in the schedule.
Some clients did argue that a digital image using Photoshop is NOT a real photo since it wasn’t printed on the “photographic paper”. There are always one in the crowd that make a fuss about it using a far-fetched argument.
Probably, photos using this “special” paper will create another havoc with the clients.
Embossing an image is not the same as a 3D image.
The 3D image is a virtual conception of reflection and refraction of light.
We can make an emboss image using the emboss powder and heat it using a special heater purchased at a DIY shop. BTW, a hair dryer cannot be used due to not enough heat.
A new conception is needed for a professional job such as a funeral service.
What would you like to have your photo embossed?
This wraps up today’s story.
We have to realize that funeral homes need to market using a different method.
People in the death industry have to use not just brochures and pamphlets and YouTube.
Actually, not too many funeral parlors use YouTube for marketing.
Podcasts have been around for almost 20 years since the first iPod appeared on October 23rd, 2001. Yes, that was 20 years ago.
Due to the boom of ClubHouse, talk shows have been given a second thought.
But the problems of ClubHouse and many radio shows are that you need to listen when it’s broadcasting and there’s no archive.
Podcasts are a simple method for people to catch up on what they have missed.
Funeral business is dying due to shrinking services.
Undertakers need to realize why such rituals are needed and not just blindly force customers to make their purchases.
Explanation is necessary for all sales.
They need to use a special landing page for marketing on the internet.
Keeping up with the clients is necessary but who wants to hear from a mortician?
Teach them tricks of keeping funeral costs down and benefits of using different lawyers specializing for their purposes.
Thank you very much for listening to my podcast and please subscribe.
A Book about me, can be bought from Amazon Japan called “死神と呼ばれた男” meaning “The Man Called the Reaper”, which will be published in English by September as well.
I’ll be holding an event called the “Book Break” at FCCJ, the foreign press club in Tokyo on September 29th.
This was your host, Yuusuke Wada, probably the only funeral business podcaster in Japan and signing off.
www.yeyshonan.com 