Japan’s demographic collapse has built a $12 billion “death economy.” In 2025 Japan recorded 1.59 million deaths against 671,000 births among Japanese nationals - a gap local media calls a “Mass Death Society” (多死社会). The funeral business is now one of the country’s steadiest growth markets: • Market size: ¥1.83 trillion (~$12B) in 2024, still rising as deaths climb toward a 2040 peak. • Typical funeral: ¥1.0-1.2 million. A full traditional service runs ~¥1.6 million.($10,000) • Corpse hotels (遺体ホテル): with urban crematoria backed up 4-8 days - and up to two weeks in winter - families pay ¥10,000-25,000($130) a night to refrigerate a body while they wait for a furnace slot. • 99.97% cremation rate. Ground burial is still legal nationally, but effectively barred in Tokyo and Osaka. Japan has only about 10 cemeteries that accept inhumation, so some Muslim and Jewish families spend ¥1 million+($6,500) to fly remains abroad. • In FY2023 municipalities cremated ~42,000 unclaimed bodies at public expense. When a country stops replacing itself, the last reliable consumer is the dead.