Contents

Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter i
2. Contents vii
3. Acknowledgments ix
4. Introduction 1
5. 1. Mukaekō Practice for the Deathbed 27
6. 2. With the Help of ‘‘Good Friends’’ Deathbed Ritual Practices in Early Medieval Japan 61
7. 3. Beyond Death and the Afterlife Considering Relic Veneration in Medieval Japan 102
8. 4. Collective Suicide at the Funeral of Jitsunyo Mimesis or Solidarity? 137
9. 5. At the Crossroads of Birth and Death The Blood Pool Hell and Postmortem Fetal Extraction 175
10. 6. Funerary Zen Sōtō Zen Death Management in Tokugawa Japan 207
11. 7. The Structure of Japanese Buddhist Funerals 247
12. 8. The Price of Naming the Dead Posthumous Precept Names and Critiques of Contemporary Japanese Buddhism 293
13. 9. The Orthodox Heresy of Buddhist Funerals 325
14. Glossary of Chinese and Japanese Characters 349
15. Contributors 363
16. Index 365