Memorial stones for the souls of animals killed for human welfare in Japan.

In Japan, at the old ports of the whaling industry, at all 365 slaughterhouses of the country, at some of the more than 90 wholesale markets of marine products, and at most of the about 170 testing facilities using laboratory animals, there are memorial stones for the souls of the animals killed for human welfare. Except at the whaling ports, where the memorials often can be dated back to the 17. century, all stones have been erected in the 20. century, most of them during the last 2 decades. The roots of this Japanese folk custom are probably in the prehistoric times of Shintoism. With the introduction of Buddhism in the 6. century, the killing of animals was considered sinful. Following the opening of the country in 1860, slaughterhouses were established.