The Street of Merchants of Death

I`m in a hotel on Asakusa-dori, just west of Ueno station in Tokyo. Unnervingly a lot of the local shops are emporia of death, or at least the aftermath of the natural death process.

The Japanese tradition of memorial shrine cabinets at home to commemorate passed family members requires that someone makes and sells such cabinets and the fixtures and fittings (incense burners, picture frames etc) that go with them. It`s not a common purchase for most folks and the ticket prices are high, especially for the larger walk-in-sized cabinets with gilding and lacquer. For some reason Asakusa-dori seems to have a lot of these shops, staffed by respectfully-dressed unsmiling salespeople who do not, as in Akihabara and elsewhere, blare "Sumimasen!" and "Itterasemesai!" with bullhorns at passers-by. There are other stores with similar items such as granite grave markers in the windows, again not something you might consider purchasing on a whim as you pass by on your way to work.