The Story of Hearing the Deceased's Voice After Scanning a QR Code at a Grave Visit

The Culture of Embedding QR Codes in Tombstones Is Spreading

A small QR code plate is embedded in a tombstone, and when someone visiting the grave scans it, information about the deceased is displayed. These "digital epitaphs" are said to have appeared in the United States and Europe in the 2010s, and they have now spread to various parts of the world, including Japan.

The content displayed is wide-ranging. A profile page introducing the career and personality of the deceased, a photo album from their lifetime, and memorial messages from family and friends. And the most moving is a "final message" that the deceased recorded on audio or video while they were alive.

"Thank you for coming to my grave. Are you doing well?" The moment the QR code on the tombstone is scanned, the voice of the deceased flows from the smartphone. Many of the bereaved family members who have had this experience say that "the tears would not stop."

Examples in Japan - Efforts by Temples and Stonemasons

In Japan, too, the number of stonemasons that handle tombstones with QR codes is growing. A common method is to engrave the QR code on a small stainless steel plate (about 3 cm square) and embed it in the side or base of the tombstone. Materials with excellent weather resistance are used, but durability outdoors depends on the plate's material and installation.

There are also methods that combine QR codes with perpetual memorial graves or communal graves. In a communal grave, individual information tends to get buried, but with a QR code, someone visiting the grave can access the individual page of the deceased just by scanning it. The idea is that even if the remains are interred together, memories can be kept separately for each person.

The cost is the total of the production and installation fee for the QR code plate and the creation and maintenance fee (annual) for the web page, and because it varies with the material, the installation work, and the service, ask a stonemason or service provider for a quote to check it. Compared with the price of the tombstone itself, you can preserve the memory of the deceased digitally for a small additional cost.

"Digital Wills" Prepared by the Deceased While Alive

Among digital epitaphs, what is attracting particular attention are cases in which the deceased prepared it themselves while alive. As part of shukatsu (end-of-life planning), people create the content for the QR code to be embedded in their own tombstone while they are still alive.

Examples of content: autobiographical writing looking back on one's life, video messages of thanks to the family, a self-introduction for grandchildren and great-grandchildren saying "This is the kind of person Grandpa (Grandma) was," a playlist of favorite music, and words and beliefs that one valued in life.

"What do I want to tell the people who come to visit my grave after I am gone?" Facing this question is said to become an especially deep time of dialogue with oneself within shukatsu. In the process of creating the content, you end up reselecting what you have truly valued. The work of deciding what to leave and what not to leave is itself a review of your life.

Opinions For and Against - Some Say "Graves Should Be Quiet"

There are opinions both for and against digital epitaphs.

Opinions in favor: "It lets you preserve the memory of the deceased richly." "Relatives who live far away can remember the deceased by accessing the QR code's link destination, even without visiting the grave." "It becomes an opportunity for younger generations to take an interest in visiting graves." "Photos and voices let you feel close to the deceased."

Opinions against: "A grave is a place to quietly put your hands together in prayer, and taking out a smartphone is disrespectful." "Digital data may disappear when a service ends. Letters carved in stone are more permanent." "I worry about the privacy of the deceased. Anyone can scan it." "As commercialization advances, the sanctity of the grave will be lost."

Both opinions have a point. The important thing is to respect the wishes of the deceased and the bereaved family. For people who say "I want to leave something digitally," that option, and for people who say "I want to rest quietly," that option. A QR code is only one of the options.

Will QR Codes Be Readable in 100 Years

A tombstone is something that remains for 100 or 200 years. So, will a QR code embedded in a tombstone still be readable 100 years from now?

As for physical durability, QR codes engraved on stainless steel or ceramic can be expected to last a long time if the right material is chosen. The problem is the digital data at the QR code's link destination. If the website's service ends, the link destination disappears.

To deal with this problem, companies offering "long-term preservation services dedicated to digital epitaphs" have also appeared. This is a business model that claims long-term data preservation and promises to migrate the data to another service if the service ends.

That said, we do not even know whether smartphones will exist 100 years from now. The QR code standard itself may have fallen out of use. However, the fundamental human wish to "preserve the memory of the deceased" will probably not change even if technology changes. The data should be carried over to each era's technology.