The difference?
Across the hall from the living guests are rooms that house the bodies of their deceased family members, while they await an open crematory. Japanese people are less likely to know their neighbors than they once did. Consequently, they do not see the need to hold an elaborate funeral for the entire neighborhood.
There is also a cost saving. Corpse hotels can cost a tenth of what holding a traditional funeral would.
While corpse hotels have not been reported in the U.S., it is not unusual for the elderly to decide on being buried in unusual, non-traditional methods.
