Death might be a subject avoided in many cultures, but in Japan the attitude toward to the inevitable termination of life is open, honest and frank. So much so, in fact, that coffin-trying services and other ‘death businesses’ in the country – known as shukatsu – are thriving.

Going on holiday no longer means having a well-earned rest by the pool. Affordable flights mean people are travelling for all sorts of new reasons; to get a facelift, to work, to shop, to give birth, and even to die. The first in a two-part series looks at travel for medical reasons.

Beneath the grief and taboo surrounding death is an inescapable truth – it’s an administrative nightmare. Final Fling is an online service that aims to help people take back control of end-of-life plans, providing planning tools, listings and advice on how to ‘do death' better.

It’s a fact; we’re getting old. By 2020, over-60s will outnumber under-5s for the first time. And as death looms, our fear of it does, too. Linda Court Salisbury and Gergana Y. Nenkov sit down with Canvas8 to explain how considering our own mortality can affect decision making in later life.