“Across Japan, Buddhism faces a confluence of problems, some familiar to religions in other wealthy nations, others unique to the faith here.”
“According to a 2007 report by the Japan Consumers’ Association, the average cost of a funeral, excluding the cemetery plot, was $21,500, of which $5,100 covered services performed by a Buddhist priest.”
I have no idea how much, if anything, one must pay a Catholic priest for a funeral mass but it surely cant be that expensive!
[...] ago about the cost of Buddhist funerals and it stated that roughly $5,000 is paid to the priest. click here for that article. That is one example but other ceremonies, such as a kind of Shinto baptism [...]