Death and the Afterlife in Japanese Buddhism

394 Pages·2008·8.83 MB·English

by  Jacqueline I. Stone

(Continued from front flap) buddhiSt StudieS/JapaneSe religion Stone Death
and F
subject of the chapter by Duncan Williams, Walter or more than a thousand years, Bud-
Of related interest
who shows how the Sōtō Zen sect took dhism has dominated Japanese death
and the
the lead in establishing itself in rural com- rituals and concepts of the afterlife. The
The Buddhist Dead
munities by incorporating local religious nine essays in this volume, ranging
culture into its death rites. The final three Practices, Discourses, Representations chronologically from the tenth century
Afterlife
chapters deal with contemporary funer- Edited by Bryan J. Cuevas and Jacqueline I. Stone to the present, bring to light both conti-
ary and mortuary practices and the con- nuity and change in death practices over
2007, 504 pages, illus.
troversies surrounding them. Mariko time. They also explore the interrelated
Cloth ISBN: 978-0-8248-3031-1
Walter uncovers a “deep structure” in- issues of how Buddhist death rites have
Studies in East Asian Buddhism, No. 20 in Japanese Buddhism
forming Japanese Buddhist funerals addressed individual concerns about
Published in association with the Kuroda Institute
across sectarian lines—a structure whose the afterlife while also filling social and
meaning, she argues, persists despite In its teachings, practices, and institutions, Buddhism in its varied Asian institutional needs and how Buddhist
competition from a thriving secular fu- forms has been—and continues to be—centrally concerned with death and death-related practices have assimilated
iD
neral industry. Stephen Covell examines the dead. Yet surprisingly “death in Buddhism” has received little sustained n and refigured elements from other tradi-
debates over the practice of conferring scholarly attention. The Buddhist Dead offers the first comparative investi- tions, bringing together disparate, even

posthumous Buddhist names on the gation of this topic across the major Buddhist cultures of India, Sri Lanka, Je conflicting, ideas about the dead, their
deceased and the threat posed to tradi- China, Japan, Tibet, and Burma. Its individual essays, representing a range a postmortem fate, and what constitutes
tional Buddhist temples by changing of methods, shed light on a rich array of traditional Buddhist practices for pa normative Buddhist practice.
ideas about funerals and the afterlife. the dead and dying; the sophisticated but often paradoxical discourses a The idea that death, ritually man-
Finally, George Tanabe shows how con- about death and the dead in Buddhist texts; and the varied representations nt aged, can mediate an escape from deluded
temporary Buddhist sectarian intellectu- of the dead and the afterlife found in Buddhist funerary art and popular h rebirth is treated in the first two essays.
e
als attempt to resolve conflicts between literature. Sarah Horton traces the development in
s
normative doctrine and on-the-ground Heian Japan (794–1185) of images depict-
Modern Passings e
funerary practice, and concludes that a ing the Buddha Amida descending to

human affection for the deceased will Death Rites, Politics, and Social Change in Imperial Japan Bn welcome devotees at the moment of
always win out over the demands of Andrew Bernstein ud death, while Jacqueline Stone analyzes
orthodoxy. the crucial role of monks who attended
2006, 256 pages, illus. d
Death and the Afterlife in Japanese t the dying as religious guides. Even while
Cloth ISBN: 978-0-8248-2874-5
Buddhism constitutes a major step toward dh stressing themes of impermanence and
Studies of the Weatherhead East Asian Institute
understanding how Buddhism in Japan he non-attachment, Buddhist death rites
Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University
has forged and retained its hold on death- worked to encourage the maintenance of
i
A
related thought and practice, providing “Filled with important information and useful insights.” —Harvard Journal s emotional bonds with the deceased and,
one of the most detailed and compre- of Asiatic Studies m in so doing, helped structure the social
hensive accounts of the topic to date. f world of the living. This theme is explored
“Bernstein has marshaled an impressive array of facts and ordered them to
in the next four essays. Brian Ruppert
present a history of Japanese attitudes toward dissolution and its celebra- t
examines the roles of relic worship in
tion.” —Japan Times e
strengthening family lineage and politi-
Jacqueline i. Stone is professor of cal power; Mark Blum investigates the
r
Japanese religions in the Religion controversial issue of religious suicide to
Cover art: Amida Buddha and his holy retinue descend to welcome a practitioner at the
Department of Princeton University. l rejoin one’s teacher in the Pure Land; and
time of death and escort him to the Pure Land. Amida niju¯go bosatsu raigo¯zu
Hank Glassman analyzes how late medie-
(thirteenth-fourteenth century). Courtesy of Chion’in and Kyoto National Museum. i
Mariko naMba Walter is a research val rites for women who died in preg-
f
associate at the Edwin O. Reischauer Cover design by Santos Barbasa Jr. nancy and childbirth both reflected and
e
Institute of Japanese Studies and the helped shape changing gender norms.
Fairbank Center for East Asian Research The rise of standardized funerals in
at Harvard University. Japan’s early modern period forms the
University of Hawai‘i Press
Honolulu, Hawai‘i 96822-1888
Edited by Jacqueline I. Stone and Mariko Namba Walter (Continued on back flap)
www.uhpress.hawaii.edu
jack mech.indd 1 7/9/08 3:10:38 PM
Death and the Afterlife
in Japanese Buddhism

Death and the Afterlife
in Japanese Buddhism
edited by
Jacqueline I. Stone
and
Mariko Namba Walter
University of Hawai‘iPress
Honolulu
(2009Universityof Hawai‘iPress
Allrightsreserved
PrintedintheUnitedStatesof America
14 13 12 11 10 09 6 5 4 3 2 1
Libraryof CongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
DeathandtheafterlifeinJapaneseBuddhism/editedbyJacquelineI.Stone
andMarikoNambaWalter.
p. cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN978-0-8248-3204-9(hardcover:alk.paper)
1. Funeralritesandceremonies,Buddhist—Japan. 2. Futurelife—
Buddhism. I.Stone,JacquelineIlyse. II.Walter,MarikoNamba
BQ5020.D43 2008
294.3043880952—dc22 2008010428
Universityof Hawai‘iPressbooksareprintedonacid-free
paperandmeettheguidelinesforpermanenceand
durabilityof theCouncilonLibraryResources.
DesignedbyUniversityof Hawai‘iPressProductionStaff
PrintedbyTheMaple-VailBookManufacturingGroup
In memory of ourmothers,
FromaM. Reiterand ItakuraHakui

Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction 1
1 Mukaek¯o: Practice for the Deathbed 27
Sarah Johanna Horton
2 Withthe Help of ‘‘GoodFriends’’:Deathbed Ritual
PracticesinEarlyMedieval Japan 61
Jacqueline I. Stone
3 Beyond DeathandtheAfterlife: Considering Relic
Veneration inMedieval Japan 102
Brian O.Ruppert
4 CollectiveSuicideat the Funeralof Jitsunyo: Mimesisor
Solidarity? 137
Mark L. Blum
5 At the Crossroadsof BirthandDeath: TheBlood Pool
Hell and PostmortemFetal Extraction 175
Hank Glassman
6 FuneraryZen:So¯to¯ ZenDeathManagement inTokugawa
Japan 207
Duncan Ryu¯ken Williams
7 TheStructure of Japanese Buddhist Funerals 247
MarikoNamba Walter
8 ThePrice of Naming theDead: PosthumousPrecept
NamesandCritiquesof Contemporary Japanese
Buddhism 293
Stephen G. Covell
9 TheOrthodox Heresyof Buddhist Funerals 325
George J.Tanabe, Jr.
Glossaryof Chineseand JapaneseCharacters 349
Contributors 363
Index 365
vii

Acknowledgments
No collection of essays sees publication without the help of many
people. We are grateful, first of all, for the unflagging cooperation of
ourcontributors,whohaveworkedwithusthroughmultipleroundsof
revisionandpatientlysupportedthisprojectdespiteunforeseendelays.
Wewouldalso liketothankthemanycolleaguesandotherindividuals
who, at various stages of the project, have offered helpful advice and
assistance. These include Gail Chin, Jessey Choo, Fujii Masao, Lor-
raine Fuhrmann, Sinead Kehoe, Yasuko Makino, Mark Rowe, Stephen
(‘‘Buzzy’’)Teiser,MimiYiengpruksawan,StuartYoung, JimmyYu,and
others. We thank in particular the two anonymous manuscript re-
viewers whose thoughtful suggestions have much improved the quality
of this study. Two of the essays included here represent revisions of
parts of earlier published work; we would like to thank University of
California Press and University of Hawai‘i Press for permission to in-
clude them here. We gratefully acknowledge Chion’in, owner of the
Amida niju¯go bosatsu raig¯ozu (Descent of Amida Buddha with twenty-
five bodhisattvas), for permission to reproduce this image on the vol-
ume’s cover. We are indebted to Kyoto National Museum for kindly
making a copy of this image available to us, and to the photographer,
Morio Kanai. We would also like to acknowledge Princeton University
for fundsthat helpedsupport manuscript preparation.
Our most sincere thanks go to Patricia Crosby, executive editor
of University of Hawai‘i Press, for her guidance and encouragement
throughout. We also extend our appreciation to other members of
the University of Hawai‘i Press’s outstanding staff; to Keith Leber, our
managingeditor; to Margaret Black, our copyeditor; to WendyBolton,
ourproofreader; andto MaryMortensen,who prepared our index.
Lastly,onamorepersonalnote,wewouldliketoacknowledgeour
mothers, memories of whom are for both of us bound up with our in-
terest in studying death and the afterlife. Mariko Walter recalls: ‘‘My
mother took me onmy first funeral procession (nobe okuri) when I was
eight years old. While waiting for her at the desolate town crematory,
not understanding, I amused myself by playing in a large pit filled
with bones and ashes. Several years later, after her death from cancer,
itwaswithverydifferentemotionsthatIhelpedgatherupmymother’s
own cremated remains for interment in our family tomb.’’ During
ix