Skip to main content Currently Reading Lack of burial space is changing age-old funeral practices, and in Japan 'tree burials' are gaining in popularity Natasha Mikles, Texas State University June 9, 2021 FacebookTwitterEmail Natasha Mikles, Texas State University (THE CONVERSATION) As the global population continues to grow, space for putting the dead to rest is at a premium. In the U.S., some of the biggest cities are already short on burial land, and so are many other nations around the world. At the same time, many nations are transforming funerary rituals, changing the way cemeteries operate and even destroying historic cemeteries to reclaim land for the living. In Singapore, for example, the government has forcibly demolished family tombs in favor of columbariums, structures that can hold the urns of the cremated. Grave spaces in the city-state can be used only for a term of 15 years, after which the remains are cremated and the space is used for another burial.