Another Shukatsu（終活） － Prepair for the end of life

There is another Shukatsu (the sound is the same as Shukatsu for job-hunting but the Kanji character and meaning are different.) that is widespread among the elderly people in Japan now.

The word was created around 2009 and nominated as the most influential word in Japan in 2010.

Shukatsu, preparation for the end of life, involves writing down ones, personal history, messages and things which they think are important to let people know after their death, in the "Ending Note".  These include things like life events, happy and sad memories, information of family assets, how to divide inheritance, request for funeral or memory service, and so on.

It may seem unusual for foreigners, but many elderly people said that preparing for the end of their lives makes them more positive about their death.

The population of over 65-year-olds is more than 30 million which is about a quarter of the Japanese population and more than half of them are  living alone or just with their partner, not with their children and grandchildren, so they don't have much chance to share their feelings and pass the wishes to their family.

Many Ending Notes templates have been made available in Japan by publishers and non-profit organizations.