Dying in Japan: Japanese folk and religious beliefs about death.

Title: Dying in Japan: Japanese folk and religious beliefs about death.
Identifier: AAI9431356
identifier: 9431356
Creator: Goodman, Elizabeth Kushi.
Contributor: Adviser: Roslyn Bologh
Date: 1994
Language: English
Publisher: City University of New York.
Subject: Sociology, General | Sociology, Ethnic and Racial Studies | Sociology, Individual and Family Studies
Abstract: Dying in Japan explores the fact that Japanese do not seem to have the same fears associated with facing death and talking about death that Western people seem to have. The text illustrates the way Japanese religion and traditional lore offer consolations at the prospect of death and ameliorates the fear of dying among Japanese. Japanese history is presented as a background to modern life, drawing illustrations from the past to explain social customs observed in Japan today. Interviews with a variety of people on Shikoku are presented as representations of common attitudes. The conclusion is that Japanese formality and ritual observances preserve a way of thinking that originated in Japanese religion including their separate version of Buddhism and Shinto religion, with an additional emphasis on family continuity, and involving the notion that Japanese see themselves as a special race because of their isolated place in history.
Type: dissertation
Source: PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
degree: Ph.D.