I can understand that an exception may be made for monarchs and other prominent individuals. It takes time to organize a funeral on a national scale. For ordin

I can understand that an exception may be made for monarchs and other prominent individuals. It takes time to organize a funeral on a national scale. For ordinary people, though, the immediate family is all who matters. To continue to Korean example I mentioned above, it is culturally accepted that you can just drop everything and leave if a family member has died. You don't work the funeral into your schedule; the funeral forces itself into your schedule whether you think you can afford to or not. I think this is a result both of the Confucian tradition (filial duty above everything else) and of the practical necessities of public health (you don't want to keep dead bodies around for too long in a hot and humid country). The flip side of being able to drop everything immediately, of course, is that you're expected back at work as soon as it's over. Either way, social norms need to support this kind of prioritizing in order for most people to adopt quick funerals.