I Threw Away My Family Buddhist Altar in Japan: A Temple Said No, So I Called Soka Gakkai and a Butsudan Shop

My parent was a member of Soka Gakkai. I am not. After my parent died, I did not know how to get rid of the black butsudan, the Buddhist family altar.
Taking it away cost 10,800 yen. A new altar cost 178,000 yen. For people in the same situation, I am writing what I actually did.

The Answer: These Three Steps

• Ask a temple → they refuse (because the religion is different)
• Contact Soka Gakkai and return the “god” (the gohonzon)
• Ask a butsudan shop to dispose of the altar (taking it away: 10,800 yen)

The Altar in Our House

I do not really know when or how my parent joined Soka Gakkai. Before I knew it, there was a black altar in our house. It looked completely different from a normal wooden altar. It looked heavy and imposing. Since I was a child, it felt strange to me.

At the back, in the center of the altar, was the “god” (the gohonzon) that we kept on loan from Soka Gakkai.
I have always thought of it as a god. Officially, it seems to be a sutra written on paper and mounted as a hanging scroll. But to me, it is a god. I also learned only later that it was on loan.

My Parent Wanted a Soka Gakkai Funeral, but I Said No

While still alive, my parent said, “I want to be sent off with a Soka Gakkai funeral.” I said no.

Once before, I went to a Soka Gakkai funeral for someone I knew. There was no priest. A leader-type person ran it, and everyone chanted Nam-myoho-renge-kyo the whole time. I am not a member. It was not my place to stand there. I still think it was right to say no.

1. I Asked a Temple to Dispose of It, and They Said No

After my parent died, I asked the priest of the temple that did the funeral, “Please dispose of this altar.” His answer was, “I do not want to.” Maybe it is natural to refuse when the religion is different. But I did not know it worked that way.

2. I Called Soka Gakkai and Returned the Gohonzon (the God)

First of all, I did not know who to contact.
But I knew a classmate of mine was a member, because he delivered the Seikyo Shimbun, their newspaper. We also took it, and I canceled it when my parent went into the hospital. Through that connection, I reached the person in charge of our area.

When I talked with them on the phone, they told me the gohonzon inside the altar was on loan from Soka Gakkai. Before disposing of the altar, I had to return it first.

I think people with no connection will get stuck here. I looked it up, but the official Soka Gakkai website did not show a way to return it or a place to contact. We only got there through my classmate. If you have no one in mind, the only way is to call your local Soka Gakkai center.

But the gohonzon must be returned in any case. So that call becomes the way in. You can ask at the same time where to take the altar itself. Our altar also seems to be something my parent got from someone. I had no idea where to find a butsudan shop on my own.

Later, two people in charge from Soka Gakkai, a man and a woman, came to our house. Before and after taking down the gohonzon, they prayed to it carefully. Then they took it back with them. No one blamed me for anything. We live in the countryside, so death notices appear in the flyers that come with the newspaper. They seemed to know already.

3. I Asked a Butsudan Shop to Dispose of It (10,800 Yen)

I found the butsudan shop through someone I knew who came to pray before the funeral. I think it started when I asked, “What should I do with this altar?”

If you have no butsudan shop in mind, the fastest way is to ask, “Where should I take this altar?” when you call about returning the gohonzon. Soka Gakkai knows where the altar can be taken. If you still cannot decide, call a butsudan shop and say first, “It is a Soka Gakkai altar. Can you take it?” Some shops say no. If you say it first, they will not come to your house and then refuse.

After I returned the gohonzon, I asked that shop to take away the black altar. The cost was 10,800 yen. That is 10,000 yen plus consumption tax (in 2016, when the tax was 8%).

I also checked the prices today. This part is not my experience. It is what I looked up.
A butsudan shop takes an altar away for 20,000 to 80,000 yen. A temple charges 10,000 to 100,000 yen. A city or town charges 500 to 2,000 yen to collect it as bulky waste.
In September 2026, I visited the websites of companies that show their price lists and checked. There is no official data on these prices.

Our 10,800 yen was the price when the consumption tax was 8%. Compared with the prices today, it is on the cheap side.

I also bought a new altar at the same shop. It cost 178,000 yen. I bought our grave from this shop too. One shop took care of everything.

---

What I Think Now That the Altar Is Gone

I will be honest. I was glad it was gone. It belonged to an organization that had nothing to do with me. I could not bring myself to put my hands together in front of it every day.

The new altar was 178,000 yen. It is smaller and simpler than the Soka Gakkai altar. Now I put my hands together in front of this one.

Summary: If You Keep the Order, It Is Not Hard

To dispose of a Soka Gakkai altar, you must first contact Soka Gakkai and return the gohonzon. A temple will refuse. A butsudan shop will take the altar. If you do not know this, you will be at a loss. But if you do it in order, it is not hard.

Soka Gakkai was polite from start to finish. They did not blame me, and they did not try to stop me. Children do not always take on the religion of their parents. Our family was like that. When you are in trouble, contact the Soka Gakkai person in charge first. Returning the gohonzon and asking where to dispose of the altar can be done in one call.

Finally, there is something I want to tell you, the person reading this.
No one can plan a funeral well. No one is in the state of mind to do it. Everyone has things they wish they had done differently. Even so, doing it in the normal way is enough. “I did it fairly well” is a perfect score.

You do not need to feel guilty about disposing of a Soka Gakkai altar. I kept the order and was polite with the people I dealt with, and it was not hard.

---

— Me-me