ecological immortality....They see their cremated remains not simply as disposed into the earth but integrated with and nourishing the earth” (p. 189). In his conclusion, Boret asks whether we are seeing a liberalization of death rites in Japan. If Aging and Loss reads like a melancholic flowing essay, Japanese Tree Burial reads more like the doctoral dissertation from which it derives, with the frequent spelling out of where each chapter is proceeding and where exactly it has gone. This plodding style is a little unfortunate, because the book’s subject is so interesting: what Boret describes is a partial answer to the yearnings of so many of Danely’s informants. Danely’s informants represent Japanese elderly at large, even though he has chosen to investigate them within the most traditional of Japanese cities, Kyoto; Boret’s informants represent, in their radical move away from familial graves, a very tiny minority of Japanese today. This is the largest intellectual problem with Boret’s book: while tree burial may seem wonderfully attractive to many of us, only a few hundred Japanese engage in it. Given this tiny number, is the subject really worth devoting a book-length monograph to? And is this really the wave of the future, or will it remain simply the choice of a very unusual few? Despite this doubt, I am emotionally if not intellectually convinced by Boret that what he describes, in a Japan in the midst of extraordinary demographic transition, may possibly represent the future of many Japanese. I myself decided, after reading Boret’s book, that this is how I want to die and be buried; being scattered beneath the trees, or in the waves, or in the desert sands would be a good way to end one’s life and dispose of one’s remains, I think. The yearning that so characterizes the elderly depicted in Danely’s book will probably become more and more the fate of us all in an aging world that does not know how to deal with its aging. But the form of burial described in Boret’s book might also just possibly become less the exception and more the norm in a future world within and beyond Japan. Family and community pass but nature remains: this is the ultimate message of these two fascinating books.

中文翻译：

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裹在以色列国旗中：Mizrahi 单身母亲和官僚酷刑

生态永生......他们看到他们的火葬遗骸不仅被埋葬在地球上，而且与地球融为一体并滋养地球”（第 189 页）。在他的结论中，博雷特问我们是否正在看到日本的死亡仪式自由化。如果 Aging and Loss 读起来像一篇忧郁的散文，那么 Japanese Tree Burial 读起来更像是它源自的博士论文，频繁地拼写出每一章的进展和确切的去处。这种单调乏味的风格有点不幸，因为这本书的主题太有趣了：博雷特所描述的是对丹利的许多线人的渴望的部分回答。尽管 Danely 选择在日本最传统的城市京都调查他们，但他的线人一般代表日本老年人。博雷特的线人代表，在他们激进地远离家族坟墓的过程中，今天只有极少数的日本人。这是博雷特书中最大的智力问题：虽然树葬对我们许多人来说似乎非常有吸引力，但只有几百名日本人参与其中。考虑到这个很小的数字，这个主题真的值得花一本书长度的专着来研究吗？这真的是未来的浪潮，还是只是少数人的选择？尽管有这种怀疑，但我在情感上（如果不是在理智上）被博雷特说服，他所描述的，在一个人口异常转变的日本，可能代表了许多日本人的未来。我自己在读完博雷特的书后决定，这就是我想死和被埋葬的方式；散落在树下或海浪中，或者在沙漠中将是结束生命和处理遗体的好方法，我认为。在不知道如何应对衰老的老龄化世界中，Danely 书中所描绘的老年人的渴望可能会越来越成为我们所有人的命运。但是，在日本国内外的未来世界中，Boret 书中描述的葬礼形式也可能不再是例外，而更多地成为常态。家庭和社区过去了，但自然依然存在：这是这两本引人入胜的书的终极信息。但是，在日本国内外的未来世界中，博雷特书中描述的葬礼形式也可能不再是例外，而是成为常态。家庭和社区过去了，但自然依然存在：这是这两本引人入胜的书的终极信息。但是，在日本国内外的未来世界中，博雷特书中描述的葬礼形式也可能不再是例外，而是成为常态。家庭和社区过去了，但自然依然存在：这是这两本引人入胜的书的终极信息。