Japanese funeral customs: watched by two mourners, an attendant prepares to place the urn containing the ashes in the opened grave. Watercolour, ca. 1880 (?).

Left, an attendant brings a wooden pail of water while another holds a piece of red cloth (used to cover the urn ?) by its edges with his hands and mouth; centre, an attendant is about to hand the urn to another who is crouching by the freshly dug grave; the mattocks used for digging lie on the ground alongside; right, a man and woman holding prayer beads watch the proceedings; background left, the wall of the temple; background centre, gravestones; background right, a small wooden building and trees