The encyclopedia · Advertising & PR · Marketing decision · 2024
Naha Chokusou Center's ¥77,000 funeral plan billed extras the price said were included
An Okinawa funeral firm sold a ¥77,000 'all-inclusive' cremation plan, then billed the farewell room extra — backed by a ¥180,000 'regular price' nobody paid.
Naha Chokusou Center Co., Ltd. · 2024-05-30
What happened
In March to June 2023, Naha Chokusou Center promoted its '直葬プラン' (direct cremation plan) and '火葬プラン' (cremation plan) at ¥77,000 (tax incl.) via newspaper inserts and its own website, next to photos of a furnished farewell room. The display implied that viewing the body in a private room — including flowers and a Buddhist altar — incurred no charge beyond ¥77,000.
In fact, using the private farewell room added a separate fee, and placing flowers or an altar added further charges. The all-inclusive claim was false.
Its website also showed 'regular price ¥180,000 (¥198,000 tax incl.)' under the ¥77,000 plan, implying the actual price was a bargain. But no customer had ever paid ¥180,000 — the 'regular price' had no sales history at all.
On 30 May 2024 the Consumer Affairs Agency, with the Okinawa General Bureau, issued a corrective order under Article 7(1) of the Premiums and Representations Act for violations of Article 5(2) — presenting transaction terms as significantly more favourable to consumers than they really were.
Why it happened
- A funeral is a distress purchase — the buyer is grieving and not well placed to challenge a price
- Advertising 'nothing extra beyond ¥77,000' while separately charging the room put the headline price and the real bill at odds
- A 'regular price' of ¥180,000 with no sales history made the implied discount an outright fabrication
The lesson
An all-inclusive price claims to be the total bill. When the farewell room and its flowers are billed separately, the headline figure is a lure — never more so than with a grieving buyer.
Aftermath
The corrective order required Naha Chokusou Center to notify consumers that its price display had violated the Act, put recurrence-prevention measures in place, and stop the misleading representation. The case pairs a hidden-extra funeral price with a fictitious 'regular price' on the same service.
Sources
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