According to Forbs.com the cost of an average burial plot in the US is around $4,000. In Japan, traditional burial plots are even more expensive, costing tens of thousands of dollars.

So, some people in Japan are turning to a cheaper, high-tech alternative: It’s a building where the ashes of the dead are stored instead of being buried underground.

In this multi-storied graveyard, ashes of the dead are kept in urns on shelves in a vault, with a robotic arm to retrieve them for remembrance ceremonies.

Visitors touch a panel and a screen pulls back to reveal a black marble gravestone; in the middle of which, the requested urn appears. In front of the gravestone is a small water fountain and photos of the deceased on an electronic photo frame.

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