Four rolls of toilet paper, one bag of fried shrimp snacks, "manju," bourbon biscuits, two pieces of "milk candy" and some liquid soap. That's what I got on the 49th day of my landlord's death.
These were the gifts that the son and his family had brought for friends and relatives who would be attending the "Okanki" prayers that would take place in the house where I live -- their ancestral home (called "Okankin" in other parts of Japan). The family had asked to be able to return for the weekend for this ceremony and to take the urn to the local cemetery for burial. My landlord was an old lady who had grown up here on this island. Of course, I obliged, although I avoided telling them about the cat.
You see, I have a white cat who, now that it is spring time, is molting.