Japanese cemeteries, mostly very small are scattered throughout the communities. Often around temples. Here, there's maybe 10 in the whole area, they're big, grassy, etc. In Japan, maybe 1/4 of a block or smaller. All granite and stone. Many, many of them.
The first picture shows what Nobuko see when she looks out of her kitchen window. The cemetery from one of her neighboring temples. She lives in the temple district. Not considered unusual, everyone's used to seeing them.
On one of our days in Yamagata, she took us to 'her' temple. The oldest largest temple in town. The temple of the founder and the main feudal lord of Yamagata. Here grandparents are buried there. And now her husband Takeshi.
The second photo shows the site of Nobuko's grandparents graves; the main thing which binds her to the site. She's explaining how she's changed the site. The original marker (the one on the right with the big stone) used to be in the center. She had it moved to the right and added the monument on the left (kind of square and pointed on top with smooth face) for Takeshi (and the rest of her family?). He died 4 years ago of cancer at age 63 (too young!). Has a prominent position right outside the door on the very corner of this large memorial area adjacent to the temple. Also a garden at that temple.
The front square opening can be used to burn incense.
Nobuko explained that the lack of a strong feudal lord after the first one hurt Yamagata prefecture. Sendai, the larger city to the east, usually had a stronger feudal lord so got more advantages from the shogun.
Yes, that's snow. Unusual spring snow fell on the day of our arrival, even slush on the streets of Tokyo substantially to the south. Messed up the cherry blossoms.
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