Is It Common Practice For Japanese To Post Obituary On Newspaper

Is it a common practice for the Japanese to post an obituary in the newspaper?

Yes, births, deaths, and marriages are a matter of public record and as such are recorded on the family register (戸籍; Kosek)i. The Koseki is the documentation of the [Japanese] law that requires all Japanese households to report births, paternity, adoptions, deaths, marriages, and divorces. This reporting is done at the local municipal government offices. Marriages, adoptions, etc. become legal only after they are recorded in the family register. I believe births and deaths, though they require reporting, have a more instant legal status.Example of Koseki.When reporting births, deaths, or marriages at the local municipal government offices, the person reporting is asked if they would like the information released to the newspapers. If the answer is, yes, then the local newspaper(s) are are duly notified. In the case of deaths, only the sparsest of details are included in the obituary; name, date of death, age, address, when and where the wake and funeral ceremony will be held, and next of kin.The following examples will have the person(s) in question divided by where they live.Example of newspaper obituary announcement:Example of newspaper wedding and births announcement:

Is it common for Japanese to announce their weddings in the newspaper?

I suppose star and starlets "announce" their weddings in the newspaper, but regular people do not. The 'legal' marriage is a bureaucratic affair carried on at city hall with no fanfare. These are matters of public record and are printed in the newspaper, unless you request that they not do so. Yes, there are also wedding ceremonies. If the couple chooses to do so they often have a Shinto ceremony with traditional costume. Following the Shinto ceremony there is usually a reception, where things can get over the top silly. There are also faux chapel weddings. In recent years, there are fake newspapers made for the wedding guests. Maybe this is what the question is referring to. The entire wedding ceremony thing is a total racket.

What are the post-tsunami inspirational stories about Japan?

Here is one that I found interesting. A female friend of mine who lives in Fukushima told me about her best friend's father. He was driving along the coastal road when the tsunami came and dragged him some four or five kilometers out into the ocean. His car turned around and stayed up long enough for him to go out and hold on to some debris. After several hours, he is not sure how many, he came up on a floating roof, or part of a roof, that he could climb into. He survived there for four days before a search helicopter found him.