The company based in Ueda City, Nagano Prefecture, offered a preview of its facility on Friday, 2 days before its formal opening.
The service is designed to allow elderly and disabled mourners to say their farewells without getting out of their cars.
Funeral attendees would pull up to a window, write their name and address on a tablet computer, and hand over customary condolence money.
They would also be able to pay their last respects by offering incense and prayers toward an altar.
Visitors are to be shown on a screen in the venue so that hosts and other attendees can see them.
Company president Masao Ogiwara said he hopes the service will allow those with disabilities or limited mobility to attend funerals. He added that he wants to improve the service as needed.
A video tape showing a horse getting whipped at a traditional festival held last month in the city of Kumamoto has caused a public outcry, with many people calling it a form of animal abuse. (Japan Times) 
The government is considering giving effective 2 percent rebates for cashless purchases of all goods and services at small shops after next year’s planned consumption tax hike, it was learned Saturday. (Japan Times) 
Osamu Shimomura, a co-winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2008, has died at the age of 90.
(NHK) 
The head of a school that teaches the art of picking up women and a former student have been arrested on suspicion of rape, the fourth such case to emerge since an investigation began earlier this year, reports the Sankei Shimbun (tokyoreporter.com) 
A government advisory panel has approved a set of proposals for plastic recycling, including making it mandatory for retailers to charge for plastic shopping bags.
(Japan Times) 
A man prosecuted last year in connection with the death of a Japanese woman in Vancouver was found guilty of murder on Friday, a Canadian court said. (Japan Today) 
The entire Cabinet along with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe refrained from visiting Tokyo’s war-linked Yasukuni Shrine during this year’s four-day autumn festival that ended Saturday. (Japan Times) 
A 26-year-old unemployed man has been arrested in Sakai, Osaka, for injuring a woman after he threw a bicycle from the 12th floor of a 14-story municipal apartment building in August. (Japan Today) 
Final preparations were under way Friday for the launch of a joint mission by European and Japanese space agencies to send twin probes to Mercury, the closest planet to the sun. (Japan Times) 
Scandal-hit KYB Corp. on Friday disclosed the names of 70 government and municipal office buildings that used, or are suspected of having used, substandard earthquake shock absorbers in their construction. (Japan Times)