Death, Burial, and the Study of Contemporary Japanese Buddhism

Abstract This article approaches mortuary practices as a window into the current state of Japanese Buddhism. Despite widespread scholarly awareness of the intimate connection between Buddhism and death throughout much of Japanese history, to date little work has been done to explore the profound significance of changing burial practices on all of the major sects today. Making the argument that ‘funerary Buddhism’ ( sōshiki Bukkyō ) is important to both think about and think with, this article provides an overview of funerary culture in Japan and reflects upon what contemporary changes to that culture tell us about Japanese Buddhism.