第8話: ケンが葬儀に出席し、弔問客が独特の儀式で死者に秘密を告白する

8

A man named Ken goes to a funeral in his family's hometown, where he notices the mourners' unusually jovial disposition. Everyone is ushered inside, where the atmosphere takes on a heavy aura. Just as Ken notices the absence of a priest, the first mourner, an older man, walks through the shoji screen door into the room with the deceased, which is lit only by two candles. The man bows, whispers that he impregnated the dead man's wife during an affair, bows with his finger to his lips, then returns to the mourners' room. A young woman follows suit, except she mentions breaking a branch on his plum tree. Noticing Ken's confusion, an aunt (?) explains that this kind of funeral is a "Farewell Confessional", where mourners confess to the corpse about something they could not tell the deceased in life, so that their sin can be absolved. She then promptly urges him into the other room. Not having seen the dead uncle (?) in some years, Ken is at a loss for a secret to admit. Finally, he hesitantly confesses to accidentally killing the deceased's dog. Upon doing so, a sudden gust blows the corpse's face shroud upward and extinguishes the candles. After concluding that it was just the wind, Ken prepares to leave the room... until the dead uncle sits up and angrily asks, "IS THAT TRUE?!..." (Source: Wikipedia)