I went to a pet cemetery with my niece because her ferret died of old age a week ago. The cemetery is in the Zen temple named Jikei-in in Fuchu, the suburbs of Tokyo,
As there are only a few places including here for holding a memorial service for pets in Tokyo, many dead pets are brought into the temple. When we lost our cat which was hit by car some years ago, we put her rest here.
Few people there because It is out-of-season for coming such a place now. In Japan, people have a habit of visiting their ancestors' graves at spring and autumn equinox. Normally, while they are at it, meeting their lost pets. The reason is that we shouldn't treat pets more respectfully than humans in a Buddhist rites by the teaching of Buddhism. However the Japanese are mad about their pets recently. They usually feed them high-class food and some people make big beautiful graves for them.
