"Departures" and the representation of Culture.

"Departures" is a 2008 drama by Japanese director Yojiro Takita that explores the representation of certain cultural traditions, more specifically the traditional work as a nokanshi  (Japanese ritual mortician) and how it is perceived by modern society. The film itself is loosely based on "Coffinman" a memoir by Shinmon Aoki.

Richard Dyer's work on stereotyping states that "A system of social- and stereotypes refer to what is, as it were, within and beyond the pale of normalcy". This is clearly seen in the film when the protagonist, Daigo Kobayashi (played by Masahero Motoki) answers to an advert for a high paying job simply called "Departures". He soon learns that he will be working as a ritual mortician which horrifies him at first but he soon learns to love and take pride in his work, using it as an art form similar to his years of playing cello. Despite him finding beauty in his morbid work, the small town in which he resides in, along with his wife, have grown to despise and shun him for practicing a near forgotten tradition involving death and see it as him taking advantage of the families of those who have departed. Society eventually learns to accept and respect Diago after he performs more and more funerals for them, proving wrong their mis-beliefs and prejudices.

Hall's work on representation states that "Representation is an essential part of the process by which meaning is produced and exchanged between members of a culture."  This is especially true considering a representation could change society's views on the matter of what has been represented. "Departures" helped change the views of people and managed to bring respect back to the tradition of nokanshi, making it popular and used more frequently for funerals, and even led to a sharp increase in people taking up the profession. The popularity of the film has lead to tours and attractions at sites connected to the film, and adaptations for various media such as mangas and a stage play.