{"id":14840,"date":"2016-11-17T01:08:19","date_gmt":"2016-11-17T06:08:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digital.hbs.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/buying-a-monk-via-amazon-minrevis-challenge-to-transform-japans-funeral-industry\/"},"modified":"2016-11-18T14:23:28","modified_gmt":"2016-11-18T19:23:28","slug":"buying-budhist-priests-via-amazon-minrevis-challenge-to-transform-japans-funerals","status":"publish","type":"hck-submission","link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/buying-budhist-priests-via-amazon-minrevis-challenge-to-transform-japans-funerals\/","title":{"rendered":"Buying Budhist priests via Amazon: Minrevi\u2019s challenge to transform Japan\u2019s funerals"},"content":{"rendered":"

Minrevi Co. Ltd since 2009\u00a0\"screen-shot-2016-11-16-at-10-38-22-am\"<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

In 2009, as one of three founding members of Minrevi<\/a> Co. Ltd., I wrote its concept then on the website: \u201chelp low-tech industry with IT.\u201d We originally launched two web services: Shika-revi<\/a><\/em> (\u201c\u6b6f\u79d1\u30ec\u30d3\u201d meaning \u201cdentistry-review\u201d) for a dental industry and Sougi-revi<\/em><\/a> (\u201c\u846c\u5100\u30ec\u30d3\u201d meaning \u201cfuneral-review\u201d) for funeral homes back then.<\/p>\n

Building the websites, developing basic strategies, creating sales materials, implementing sales scripts, executing hundreds jump-in sales and cold-calls\u00a0everyday, engineering SEO, sometimes staying at the small office, we developed the services. Though I left the company after six months of the foundation finding my enthusiasm in another industry, the company has further developed its business, especially for funerals since then, and has recently increased its media exposure due to its dramatic impacted the industry.<\/p>\n

Japan\u2019s funeral industry<\/strong><\/p>\n

While the world\u2019s fastest aging society makes funerals as twice frequent as weddings in Japan [1], the funerals in Japan are among the costliest in the world; it often costs $10,000 to $30,000[2] even though they are priced opaquely.<\/p>\n

Most Japanese funerals are conducted in Buddhist style, and the ceremonies are mostly arranged by professional funeral houses. In the ceremony, Buddhist priests attend, recite sutras, and give kaimyou <\/em>(\u201c\u6212\u540d\u201d or \u201ca posthumous Buddhist name\u201d). After the funeral, hoyo<\/em> (\u201c\u6cd5\u8981\u201d or \u201cmemorial services\u201d) are held in memory of the deceased on the seventh, forty-ninth, hundredth day, and a year after death, and so on, where Buddhist priests attend to recite sutras.<\/p>\n

The market size of funeral business is about 2.2 trillion-yen\u00a0(about 20 billion-dollars) in 2013, consisting of setting-up\/proceeding\/funeral outfit(48%), facilities(5.5%), food & beverage(11.6%), flower(11.5%), reciprocal present(14.7%), others(6.8%)[3]. Adding the market size of tombs and Buddhist altars, etc., it reaches to about 4 trillion-yen\u00a0(about 40 billion-dollars). Regardless of the market size seemingly matured, however, due to the characteristics of the funeral which is often unexpected and needs to be taken place suddenly and traditionally less competitive business as a bereaved family usually used a funeral house in a region, a price has been less transparent without a mean to check the validity of the price. In addition, the ofuse <\/em>(\u201c\u304a\u5e03\u65bd\u201dor \u201coffering\u201d) to the priest for the sutras at the funeral and hoyo<\/em> and kaimyou<\/em> were very expensive even though there were no explicit \u201cprice.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"funerals-in-japan\"<\/p>\n

Minrevi\u2019s business and operation model<\/strong><\/p>\n

Minrevi\u2019s business model is to correct the market failure of the low-tech industry by IT. Minrevi has launched many services related to funerals industry after I left, including e-commerce for tombs<\/a> and Buddhist altar<\/a>, a floor delivery service<\/a>, or even a \u201cfuneral in space<\/a>\u201d service collaborating with a California-based company. Yet I will elaborate business models of three services which have contributed to transform the industry the most: Sougi-revi<\/em><\/a>, Simple-na-Ososhiki<\/em><\/a>, and Obosan-bin<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Sougi-revi <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Sougi-rev<\/em>i, one of the original services, offered a mean for customers to acquire a fair price by comparing estimates from at most five funeral homes from more than five hundred partners Minrevi reached nationwide for over the seven years. Once an operator of Minrevi who is available twenty-four hours, 365days, received a call or an e-mail, he\/she quickly sends back the comparison lists to the potential customer and he\/she can choose if want. The potential customer\u00a0can also take advantage of the operator advisory, and follow-up if he\/she commits to use one of the funeral houses, on complicated funeral preparation processes. [4]<\/p>\n

Simple-na-Ososhiki<\/em><\/strong>(\u201c\u30b7\u30f3\u30d7\u30eb\u306a\u304a\u846c\u5f0f\u201d meaning \u201csimple funeral\u201d)<\/p>\n

In August 2013, Minrevi started to offer original fixed-charge plans for the funeral ceremony. By simplifying the ceremony and utilizing a vacant funeral house from their partners, the most affordable plan starts from 14,800-yen (about 1,500-dollar), one of the lowest cost in Japan, without any additional[5].<\/p>\n

Obosan-bin<\/em><\/strong>(\u201c\u304a\u574a\u3055\u3093\u4fbf\u201d meaning \u201cMr. monk-delivery\u201d)<\/p>\n

In May 2013, three months before launching Simple-na-Ososhiki<\/em>, Minrevi also launched an epoch-making service to deliver Buddhist priests for funerals or above mentioned hoyo<\/em> and kaimyo<\/em> at a fixed-charge. Especially, after Minrevi started to sell the service through Amazon.co.jp<\/a> after December 2015, it provoked controversy and more than 560 medias, not only in Japan but also in ten countries featured the service by February 2016[6]. While there are many who do not have accesses to Buddhist priests when they need, and the service provide the way, the Buddhist association instituted that the business should not monetarize any religion. However, as described in beginning, ofuse<\/em> implicitly required by Buddhist priests is often expensive and can sometimes cost ten-times as Minrevi offer through amazon depending on the grades of services[7]. Ironically, more than a hundred priests came forward to registrations after the dispute made the service prominent.<\/p>\n