Noriaki Iwashima gestures as he lies in a coffin to try it out during an end-of-life seminar held by Japan's largest retailer Aeon Co in Tokyo October 24, 2014. Funeral arrangements are normally left to those who have been left behind but the latest trend in Japan, which literally translates to “End of life” preparations, is for the ageing to prepare their own funerals and graves before they set off on their journey to the great beyond. With a population that is expected to shrink by nearly 30 million people over the next 50 years, the market for funerals, graves and anything related to the afterlife is still very much alive. (Photo by Toru Hanai/Reuters)

While the lido was described as bringing “modernism to the masses” on the British coast it was just the latest example of a trend that had been developing since Victorian times – transforming seaside towns into resorts for leisure and entertainment. In the latter half of the nineteenth century, the fashion was for local authorities to build great piers stretching from the promenade out into the sea. The Eastbourne Pier, pictured here in May 1931, was erected between 1866 and 1870 to an ingenious design by Eugenius Birch, which saw the structure sitting on special cups allowing the supporting struts to “move” in bad weather. Arranged on the pier's 1,000-foot length were kiosks, a theatre, a ballroom and a camera obscura. 1931. (Photo by Aerofilms Collection via “A History of Britain From Above”)

A florist waits for customers at the Piedra Liza flower market in Lima April 29, 2015. The market sells flowers that come from all over Peru. Peru is home to more than 25,000 varieties of flowering plants like geraniums, carnations, roses, hydrangeas and jasmine, according to local media. (Photo by Mariana Bazo/Reuters)

Thai officials inspect counterfeit watches before destroying them at Khlongluang Transportation Station in Pathumtani province, on the outskirts of Bangkok April 9, 2015. The counterfeit goods, which included piles of CDs, DVDs, handbags, clothes, brand name shoes, cell phones, caps, glasses, computers, cosmetics and watches are worth over 3.7 billion Thai baht ($ 115,790,901), according to local authorities. (Photo by Chaiwat Subprasom/Reuters)

A worker displays paper pandas created by French artist Paulo Grangeon in front of the Grand Palace in Bangkok, Thailand, Friday, March 4, 2016. The exhibit is part of the World Wide Fund's project where the 1600 paper pandas symbolize the last pandas still present in nature.(Photo by Sakchai Lalit/AP Photo)

Men pull as a boy stands on a soap cutter in a soap factory in Idlib province, Syria January 30, 2016. (Photo by Ammar Abdullah/Reuters)

Soldiers take a selfie on the plateform at a metro station in Ho Chi Minh City on December 22, 2024. Thousands of selfie-taking Ho Chi Minh City residents crammed into train carriages on December 22, as the traffic-clogged business hub celebrated the opening of its first-ever metro line after years of delays. (Photo by Nhac Nguyen/AFP Photo)

Salvadoran indigenous participate in the International Day of the Indigenous Peoples at Divino Slavador square in San Salvador, El Salvador, 09 August 2016. (Photo by Oscar Rivera/EPA)