Tokyo residents unsettled by boom in cemetery plots.

(From International Herald Tribune (Herald Asahi))

Developers take advantage of falling land prices and the knowledge that demand for new tombs will grow. In a vastly overcrowded metropolis where space is at a premium and land prices are among the highest in the world, Tokyo and its vicinity would seem an odd place for a construction boom in cemetery plots

That was until developers linked falling land prices with high demand for tombs, a market that is destined to grow with society's rapid aging

That said, most people object to having a cemetery built in front of their homes

But that didn't stop developers in a quiet corner of Tokyo's Setagaya Ward that is packed with condominiums and homes. In 2003, residents were shocked to learn of plans for a mega-cemetery spanning 4,000 …