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進入《中英對照讀新聞》Drop-dead beautiful：Japan undertakers tested on how to dress a corpse 美得令人絕倒：日本禮儀師就如何幫屍體梳化穿衣受測
（路透）
◎周虹汶
A 23-year-old undertaker won a contest at Japan’s biggest funeral expo on Thursday that tested ancient skills in the ritual dressing of the dead.
一位23歲禮儀師週四在日本最大殯葬博覽會一項替死者打扮儀式的古老技法檢驗競賽中獲勝。
“I practiced every day to prepare for this competition,” said a smiling Rino Terai after her win over three other finalists.
笑容可掬的寺依梨乃制霸另3名決賽者後說：「我每天練習，為這場比賽做準備。」
“I took videos and made improvements by asking myself, does this look beautiful? Am I treating the deceased kindly?”
「我拍影片並捫心自問求取進步：這樣看起來美麗嗎？我有好好對待往生者嗎？」
Japan’s Shinto religion believes that the soul is impure shortly after death and the process of dressing a body - usually in front of close relatives only - purifies the deceased spirit before it is sent off to the “other world”.
日本神道教相信，靈魂在死後馬上陷入不潔，而幫遺體穿衣梳化的過程——通常只在至親面前——淨化了往生者靈魂，在它被送往「另一個世界」以前。
Japan’s ageing society has increased demand for undertakers with special skills, said Kimura Kouki, head of the Okuribito Academy.
「送行學院」主管木村光樹說，日本高齡化社會對擁有特殊技巧的禮儀師需求大增。
“There are about 2,000 undertakers whose expertise is in dressing the deceased, but their skills vary a lot,” he said.
他說：「專精於替往生者打扮的禮儀師約有2000位，但他們的技法巧妙大不同。」
“I wanted this competition to be a way to spur undertakers to improve their skills.”（Reuters）
「我希望這場比賽成為激勵禮儀師精進其技巧的方式。」（路透）
新聞辭典
drop-dead/drop dead：口語，指極其引人注目的。例句：She is drop-dead gorgeous! （她美呆了！）drop-dead還可指最終截止期限。例句：That is our drop-dead offer.（這是我們最後的提議。）
undertaker：名詞，指承擔者、包工、殯葬業者。在美式用法中，常用mortician一字來指稱殯葬業者。
spur：名詞，指激勵因素、支柱、公路或鐵路的支線；動詞，指策馬前進或加速、鞭策、急速前進。例句：Such books serve as a spur to children’s imagination.（這類書籍能激發孩童的想像力。）
