Katsuya Kodama¡¯s wife died two years ago, and the 77-year-old keeps her ashes on a Buddhist altar in their suburban home outside Tokyo.

¡°I talk to her morning and night, tell her everything,¡± he said. ¡°I sit on the chair she used in the bath while ill. Sitting where she sat makes me feel close to her.¡±

That sense of loss cuts through Sakura, Chiba Prefecture, including the Sennari district where Kodama moved 30 years ago.