The 3rd World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction in Sendai

2015/3/17

Listening to the Heart:Among the People in the Great East Japan Earthquake Disaster Area
Rev. Taio Kaneta (Tsūdai-ji Zen Temple, Chief Priest)
The Time Comes
I have here a photograph, taken from a hotel in Shizugawa, Minamisanriku town, on March 1st, 2011. The
sun is setting on the beautiful ocean of the ria coast. It is a fertile sea. The marine products of this bay havesupported the lives of the people in Kurihara from ancient times. Everyone believed without a doubt thattime would continue to pass quietly and the warm spring would come.
On March 11th, 2011, at 2:46pm, a large earthquake occurs. The great shaking makes waves andcontinues. Magnitude 9.0. The tsunami alarm begins to sound. One can intuitively feel that the casualties
would be in the ten thousands, no, hundred thousands. Shortly after, utilities are cut off. From the radio, thereis news that “three hundred bodies have drifted ashore on the Arahama Coast.” The intuition became a reality
and the body begins to shake.
The Reality at the Crematorium.
The bodies are carried from the coast to the crematorium. With the consent of the city office, volunteers
begin chanting sutras. The first body is a fifth grade girl in elementary school. Immediately, another body
arrives. It is the body of a fifth grade classmate from the same elementary school. The two small coffins arelaid side by side and the sutra chants commence. The chanting voice quavers. The newspaper photographer’s
hands are shaking and can’t press the shutter. “We will properly perform memorial services. Your duty is tolet the world know about this reality. Press the shutter.” The volunteers at the crematorium continue for abouta month. These were days when everyone had to face his or her duty.
The 49th Day Memorial Pilgrimage: Losing Sight of God and Buddha.
The 49th day memorial pilgrimage. It is ten kilometers from Tokura, Minamisanriku town to Shizugawa.
The Japanese Self Defense Forces are desperately looking for bodies. Photographs depicting more tranquildays are scattered around on the ground as the eleven pastors and priests walk through the smell of sludge
and death. Facing the ocean, they chant sutras and sing hymns. All their creeds, doctrines and religious
vocabularies crumble. Where in the destruction and suffering can we find the words of God or Buddha?
Looking for the words of God and Buddha, we start walking again. A mountain cherry tree is blooming as if
nothing had happened. “The power to cause a tsunami. The power to make a mountain cherry tree bloom.”
These words begin to circle in my heart. On the next day, the robes are thrown aside and disaster relief
begins.
If Doctors treat “Life,” Priests treat the “Heart”’
We serve udon noodles at the disaster shelters. It was there that I had a destined encounter. At this shelter,
I see a person in charge desperately urging the “Doctors Without Borders” not to leave. The lives that were
saved from the tsunami were being entrusted to doctors. If so, what were we religious practitioners supposed
to do?
On the night of March 11th, a cold snow fell on the disaster area, as if delivering the final blow. When thesnow cleared, the sky was filled with stars. Without lights and car exhaust, the stars were spread across theclear sky beyond anything I had ever experienced. You could say the universe was enveloping me. The
universe was enveloping up “life and death, the emotions of joy, anger, pathos, and humor” of the disasterarea. I am reminded of the final scene in Kenji Miyazawa’s story, “The Bear of Nametoko Mountain.” Kenji
looks on the conditions of “Life and Death” from the far side of the universe. This is the perspective that liesat the core of our “active listening activities.”
Make a space where people can relax in the mist of the rubble! The work of the itinerant active listening
café “Café de Monk” began.
The beginning of the itinerant active listening café “Café de Monk”
We placed a message board in the café.
“Café de Monk” is a café run by priests.
Monk refers to a priest in English.
We believe that it will take a long time for the quietness of your daily lives to return.
Won’t you take a moment to relax while sharing a “monku” [文句 complaint]?
As we priests listen to your “monku” [文句 complaint] we will “monku” [悶苦 suffer inanguish] with you.

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The 3rd World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction in Sendai

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There are many types of cakes, coffee and cold drinks. Beautiful flowers, incense. The jazz music of
Thelonius Monk plays in the background. The dissonant and loose tempo of Monk’s music accurately
expresses the disaster victim’s hearts. In the midst of the rubble, a “relaxing space” where humor overflows
is born. When suffering, humor is important. Active listening is a very delicate activity. Diligently gathering
information, we spread our activities like an inchworm. Some days nobody came. But there was meaning in“being there.”
Slowly people begin to gather. The relaxing space is filled with “tales of suffering.” A young male in his
twenties tells of running away from the tsunami in his car. He cannot forget the desperate faces of the drivers
seeking help as the tsunami overtook the cars behind him. He lost his job in the disaster. An elderly lady lay
crying on the muddy tatami mats with the ashes of her son in front of her. A tale of a fatherless child in thedisaster shelter who faces the wall at night and cries. A letter addressed to a father who died while attending
an elementary school graduation ceremony. The suffering of a woman who remains holed up in her
temporary housing. The regret of a daughter who was unable to help her mother. The painful cries of a young
mother whose child was snatched from her arms during the tsunami.
Active Listening Makes You Face Yourself
The strength you expend on others will come back to you with the same strength. Active listening is workthat transcends the borders of “self and other.” On the scene, you question your beliefs, and your beliefs are
deepened. Eventually, the assembly halls in temporary housing settlements becomes your “Zen hall” and“place of prayer.” Using all your sensitivities, melting together you spin tales for the future. “Don’t think.
Feel!! Creation and Act!!”
The Performers of Café de Monk
At Café de Monk, there are performers who will pull out the many thoughts that cling to the recesses of
the heart. The Jizo [Kṣitigarbha bodhisattva images] are one of them. We made Jizo images the size of ourpalms, and quietly line them up next to the assembly hall with the attached message: “We offer these to those
who lost somebody dear in the tsunami.” People stop by for a while in front of their kind smiles. Eventually,
they start telling the sad story of the person they lost. Pressing their palms together, they speak earnestly tothe deceased. Their tear streaked faces turn to smiles, and they can now walk forward a little further.
The Spiritual Phenomena that Occur in Disaster Areas
A woman came who was possessed by the spirit of one who died in the tsunami. The suffering of thedeparted is told through her mouth. It is a conversation with the dead. Taking her religious background into
consideration, we conducted religious rituals to send the dead spirit to its proper place. We counted 25 people
like this in half a year.
The existence of ghosts or souls is not a problem. The role of religious practitioners who face scenes ofsuffering is to carefully listen to the meaning these events have for each person, and to provide theappropriate care.
The Endeavors of Rinshō-shūkyōshi [臨床宗教師Interfaith Chaplains]
Café de Monk works closely with the “Kokoro-no Sodan Shitsu, or The Room of Care for the Heart”
office based at Tohoku University and pursues activities from an interfaith and intersectarian perspective.
The central figure in this was medical doctor Takeshi Okabe. Dr. Okabe was diagnosed with cancer before
the earthquake and did not have long to live. Right until the very end he participated in the Café, and inspiredby the sight of religious practitioners who were cooperating and desperately trying to support the disasterarea, hoped to train religious practitioners to work in the various scenes of suffering found in Japanesesociety. This hope became a reality in 2012 when the Department of Practical Religious Studies was openedat Tohoku University. In addition to research and teaching students, an “Interfaith Chaplain Training
Program” was also established.
Interfaith chaplains are religious practitioners who take into consideration Japan’s spiritual climate,religious foundations, and societal structure to work from a position that stands above conversion activities
and seeking profit for religious organizations. With consideration for the ethical and public nature of theirwork, they serve as a societal resource-- entering the public spaces of medicine, welfare facilities, anddisaster areas. This work is spreading to universities and medical settings around Japan and is becoming a
post disaster societal movement.

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The 3rd World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction in Sendai

2015/3/17

Significance of Interfaith Chaplains (Rinsho-shukyo-shi)
Rev. Yozo TANIYAMA, PhD
Associate Professor, Tohoku University"Rinsho-shukyo-shi" refers to a Japanese-styleinterfaith chaplain. He/she is a religious practitioner
who provides spiritual and religious care, with anunderstanding of Japanese culture, open to different
value systems, but not aiming for proselytization.
After the Great East Japan Earthquake, the activityof the care of the heart by religious practitioners
attracted attention. The late Dr. Takeshi Okabe, who
was a pioneer of home hospice, was enthusiastic in
supporting this activity and coined this new word.
A model of Rinshu-shukyo-shi is chaplaincy in
the West. This began when the army needed to haveworship and funeral services in the battlefield. Thenit spread to various other fields. In the UnitedStates, after the army, hospital chaplaincy comes to
mind.
However, it is difficult to import chaplaincy into
Japan, because it assumes a specialist with a
Christian background. Japanese Christians haveattempted to implement it since the 1960s, but it has
hardly spread. We must consider Japan’s uniquecultural and religious environment, and thecontemporary society that features "separation ofreligion and state."

1. Expectation for Religious Practitioners
As Rev. Kaneta has just mentioned, the victims who
participated in ‘Cafe de Monk’ said, "I want them tocome more"; "I’m relieved when I talk with apriest”; and “it is interesting that a Buddhist priest
and a Christian pastor work together". On thetelephone counseling, they said, "I wanted a hint forliving"; "I want [to talk with] a religious
practitioner so I can hear something good."
Dr. Okabe left his wish, "a doctor can show aguidepost to live, but not to die, so I want areligious practitioner to show it for those who go
down to the darkness." Some medical people say, "areligious practitioner has something unique andspecial"; or "I am relieved when a religious
practitioner is in our ward". On the other hand,
there is the fear that, "in regard to religion, it isdifficult"; “I don’t like to work with a person who
isn’t knowledgeable about medicine"; or "I’m afraid
he might force religious ideas onto the patients."
Some investigations show expectations forreligious practitioners. 98.8% of palliative care staff
say that participation by religious practitioners arenecessary (Kikui et al, 2006). And 79.3% say that"religious practitioners should participate in end-oflife care” (Ono et al, 2000).

Regarding the needs of the patient from thenurse’s perspective, 94.9% think, "a patient has
religious needs at the end of life", and 82.4%
answer that when needs arise "a person of religion
should provide care". (Ohmori et al, 1998).
In a survey for the bereaved who used a
palliative care unit with a religious background,they valued "meeting a religious practitioner" (86%),"participating in worship” (82%), "religious
music" (80%), "religious atmosphere" (78%)(multiple answers). (Okamoto et al, 2010),
On the question for general people, "doesreligion support you when you face death?”, 39.8%
answered "Yes” in 2008, but it rose to 54.8% in2011 after the earthquake disaster. (Japan hospice
Palliative Care Foundation)

2. Folk Belief
Religious studies covers "established religions"such as Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Shinto andnew religions, as well as "folk belief" that is bornby change, distortion and mixture of establishedreligion.
It is Masaharu Anesaki who used the word "folkbelief" for the first time in the world. He was thefirst professor of religious studies at the Universityof Tokyo. And Ichiro Hori is the father ofresurrecting this interest. He was a professor at
Tohoku University. The way of the funeral, burial,
grave, ritual and prayer varies according to eras andareas. The religious manners for such events are notbased on sacred books, even if a priest conducts
them.
For example, there is a famous "SplinterRemoving Kṣtigarbha Bodhisattva (Toge-nukiJizo)" in a Soto-Zen temple in Sugamo, Tokyo. The
formal name is "Life Prolongation Kṣtigarbha
Bodhisattva (En-mei Jizo) ", based on a sacred bookmade in Japan. But the name of “SplinterRemoving” cannot be found in any book. The
following story seems to be the origin of this folk
belief in the Jizo. In the Edo era, a woman
swallowed a needle by accident and suffered. A
priest suggested she swallow a small wood carving
modeled after this Jizo. The needle stuck in thecarving and came out. Thus, people came to believein this Jizo’s help.
Regarding the next world, there is a famousstory. After dying, the soul goes to a flower field,
then a riverbank. After crossing the River Sanzu-nokawa, he has to receive a trial of the chief judge—3—

The 3rd World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction in Sendai

Enma-daiou. If he is liar, the judge picks out his
tongue. People also believe that: some dead family
members appear by the death bed; ancestors comeback to this world on 13th of August every year; thedeceased soul protects his living family if he isworshipped well; and he curses them if not.

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The argument about spiritual care in Japan
became active after the 2000s. There have beenvarious studies from the viewpoints of Buddhism,
Christianity, and Western and Eastern philosophies.
But Japanese folk belief has been overlooked. As
most Japanese believe and practice folk belief, acare provider should understand and accept it. Hereis the advantage of the interfaith chaplain. The
religious practitioner can more easily understandand apply it, with a slight change of his/her
perspective.

3.Interfaith Chaplain

Recently, the possession rate of the Buddhist
home altar (butsudan) has decreased, but still about
half of houses have the altar (Kotani, 2010). A
mortuary tablet (ihai) is enshrined on the side of a
Buddha statue in the center of the altar. A mortuary
tablet is the wooden nameplate which specifies the
Buddhist name of the deceased. The altar can beconsidered as the symbol of Buddhism, but I don’t
always think so, from my experience as a priest.
When a priest prays before the altar, naturally helooks up to the Buddha statue, but how about
people of the house? My impression is that theylook towards the mortuary tablet in their mind
rather than the Buddha statue. It is similar when
visiting a grave. People eagerly pray before thegrave, but few of them bow and put hands together
to the Buddha statue of main hall that is on the way
to the grave.
Thus duality is accepted at the home altar; one isancestor worship as folk belief, another is
Buddhism as established religion. By the way,
ancestor worship was seldom seen in the doctrine ofIndian Buddhism. Buddhism and ancestor worshipwere mixed it up in China, and this reached Japan.
The superiority of the folk belief is apparent by
Kotani’s study in 2006 about the religious actionsof Japanese. Only 11.0% answered "I always doworship or propagate my beliefs." But over 70%
also answered: “I visit a grave”, “I put hands
together before a Buddhist home altar and/or a
Shinto home shelf”, and “I believe the bad luck by
own bad behavior in past”. Kotani comments,"most of us have "religious" ideas and practices at alevel that is different from the teaching of a founded
religion (≒ established religion)." Based on this, weshould comprehend that the basis of Japanesereligion is folk belief.

In many cases, a religious practitioner who serves a
temple or a church may carry a role as a chaplain at
a specific time. At this time, it is necessary for him
to change his mind set.
When serving a church, he teaches and guides
the believer, and engages in proselytization.
Therefore it is not necessary to distinguish between
spiritual care, religious care, and proselytization.
When this same person takes the role of chaplain,
he sees people outside of his church. His aim is notproselytization. So he must distinguish between
spiritual care, religious care, and proselytization.
And he should have a good relationship with otherreligious practitioners.
Now we will confirm the difference between
spiritual and religious care. It has been said that
there is a common domain for these types of care,but the contents of the common domain have notbeen examined well. This figure expresses thedomain of S [spiritual care in the wide sense] and R[religious care in the wide sense] and their common
domain as C [application of religious resources] (C= S ∩ R). I assume a domain A [spiritual care in the
narrow sense] by excluding C from S; and B[religious care in the narrow sense] by excluding Cfrom R. The contents of A are listening, touching,art and so on. Those of B are mainly religious
teaching and rituals. Then what about C?

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The 3rd World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction in Sendai

In fact, the previous presenter Rev. Taio Kaneta
showed a good example about C. Frankly speaking,his activity helped me explain this domain C.
This photograph shows "Jizo" and “prayer
beads,” both of which the visitor to Café de Monk
produce by themselves. As each of them makes Jizo
with clay while remembering the late person, he/she
can make the figure fatter, add glasses, and so on.
The prayer beads are made with commerciallyavailable beads and a flexible elastic cord. The
design is freely decided.
After it is completed, a chaplain is asked to blessthem. This blessing is important. An applicant
asked me to bless saying, "this has not yet been
blessed. So it is a mere bracelet. Please do it, yourreverend. Then it will really become prayer beads.“

What is a person who is demanding Jizo andbeads looking for? He/she does not seek to deepen
their faith in Buddhism, nor intend to be converted.
I guess he/she utilizes a religious thing for themourning of the deceased person, concrete benefits,
or temporary healing. It is truly the application ofreligious resources.
Similar things are seen when sightseeing at
Buddhist temples, Shinto shrines and otherchurches. Have you been to such religious sites forsightseeing, too? I understand that few people visit
for their own faith or religious interest consciously.
According to Kotani’s study in 2009, on the aims ofvisiting Buddhist temple; 33.7% answered “forsightseeing”, and only 14.5% for "the event of thetemple" that the priest hopes for proselytizing.
Others are for “visiting grave”, “annual mourning
function”, and “funeral.”
In another investigation (JTB, 2013), we canconsider that only 4% visited
Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines purely forfaith. Because it is sightseeing, the main purpose isappreciation of the building, artworks, garden, andthe scenery, meals, and souvenirs. Visitors who said
it made them "feel better" and "uplifted" add up to
50%. In the words of the figure of ABC, they did
not demand B [religious care of the narrow sense],

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but are healed by C [application of religious
resources].
By the way, it is hoped that the existence of achaplain will help people to express spiritual or
religious needs. Care begins here, but of course
listening is basic. When listening, if it seems aclient is seeking religious engagement, the careshifts to the utilization of religious resources. The
chaplain should choose an appropriate religious
resource from various things; like prayer, sutrachanting, beads, Jizo and providing a hint to live
for. But it may not be for faith.
Furthermore, when she demands faith (there arefew cases), the chaplain will introduce her to a
specific religion. If she demands the same religionof the chaplain by chance, he should be particularly
careful. When his behavior goes beyond what the
manager of the facility for which the chaplain workis willing to accept, he can be subjected todismissal. Without obtaining the manager’s
permission he will invite unnecessary suspicions
about his behavior. Chaplains should be conscious
and concerned about the standard and who the
manager of the place is.
Finally, I will introduce the results of these three
years. The training program of interfaith chaplains
is approximately 80 hours consisting of lectures,field experience, and group work. We have carried
it out six times and produced a total of 95
graduates. Most are Buddhists, but we have also
had a Shinto priest, Christian pastors, a Catholic
sister and a Japanese Muslim. The male to female
ratio is approximately 3:1. We had anticipatedmostly participants from the Tohoku district before
beginning the training, but they came from thewhole country.
Most of the graduates make use of this training
in the activities at their everyday temple andchurch. About 50% are work with the victim
support activities of the Great East Japan
Earthquake disaster including people who were
evacuated from Fukushima to other prefectures.
About 30% work while on paid vacation or as avolunteer in the field of medical and social welfare.
Among others, there are people who raise publicawareness of the significance of chaplaincy to those
involved, who desire to deepen talks between thereligions, and who are going to spread similar
training.
As a result, five local societies of interfaithchaplains have been established in Sendai, Tokyo,
Gifu, Osaka, and Kumamoto; to continue studying
with each other. The "Chaplain and Vihara
Association" is organized and is going to enlarge
the scope of these activities. The groups sponsoring
similar training are increasing and those that began
in 2014 are Ryukoku University (Shin Buddhism)
and Tsurumi University (Soto Zen) and more aregoing to begin in Koyasan University (Esoteric
Buddhism) and Shuchi’in University (Esoteric—5—

The 3rd World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction in Sendai

Buddhism) from the autumn of 2015. Sophia
University (Catholic) cooperates to organize the
network of such universities and associations.
The Department of Practical Religious Studies isfinancially maintained by private donations and will

2015/3/17

be extended for two years from this April. We willcontinue the training program and want to expand it
both in quality and quantity from now on. I would
like to invite high expectations for the future.

<Bibliography>
Japan hospice Palliative Care Foundation: http://www.hospat.org/research-311.html
JTB, 2013, Questionnaire on Visiting Buddhist Temples and Shinto Shrines, Report of JTB Web
Questionnaire TABI-Q, Vol. 79, JTB Promotion Division News Release, No.20 in 2013, on 25
March 2013, in Japanese.
KAMATA, Toji ed., 2014, Series of Spiritual Studies Vol. 1: Spiritual Care, Tokyo: Being Net Press, inJapanese.
KIKUI, Kazuko, et al, 2006, Contemporary Situation and Task of Spiritual Care Provider at Palliative Care
Unit in Japan: Focusing on Participation of Religious People, J. of Clinical Death and Dying, Vol.
29, No.1, in Japanese.
KOTANI, Midori, 2006, Religious Behavior and Conscious ness in Daily Life: Survey for Japanese 1000
Men and Women from 40 to 74, Daiichi Seimei NEWS Derivery Service June 2006, in Japanese.
KOTANI, Midori, 2009, Relationship with Buddhist Temple: Contemporary Role of Temple, LifeDesign
REPORT, Autumn 2009, Daiichi Seimei Economical Institute, in Japanese.
KOTANI, Midori, 2010, Actuality of Funeral Rituals, LifeDesign REPORT, Spring 2010, Daiichi Seimei
Economical Institute, in Japanese.
OHMORI, Mitsuko, et al, 1998, Consciousness of Clinical Nurses on Religious Needs and Care of Terminal
Patient, M. of Nursing Studies at Kagawa Medical College, Vol. 2, No. 1, in Japanese.
OKAMOTO, Takuya, et al, 2010, Neccesity and Effect of Religious Care for Terminal Cancer Patient from
Aspect of Bereaved Family, J-HOPE, in Japanese.
OKUNO, Shuji, Mitori Sensei no Yuigon (The Will of Dr. End-of-life Care), Tokyo: Bungei Shunju, inJapanese.
ONO, Yukiko, et al, 2000, Actuality of Clinical Nurses on Religious Needs and Care of Terminal Patient:
Third Report: Lack in Religious Care and Participation of Priest, M. of Nursing Studies at Kagawa
Medical College, Vol. 4, No. 1, in Japanese.
TAKAHASHI, Hara, 2014, Activity of ‘Kokoro-no Sodan Shitsu, or The Room of Care for the Heart” andRinsho-shukyo-shi, or Interfaith Chaplain Project: Present and Future, WATANABE, Naoki, ed.,Understanding Religion and Modernity 2014, in Japanese.
TANIYAMA, Yozo, 2009, Structure of Spiritual Care: Adding Japanese Buddhist Aspect on Kubotera
Theory, KUBOTERA, Toshiyuki & HIRABAYASHI, Takahiro eds., Talking on Spiritual Care,
Continuing Missellany, Kwansei Gakuin University Press, in Japanese.
TANIYAMA, Yozo & BECKER, Carl B. 2014, Religious Care by Zen Buddhist Monks: A Response to
Criticism of “Funeral Buddhism”, Journal of Religion & Spirituality in Social Work: Social
Thought—6—

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Panel Discussion: On the Role of Religious Practitioners in Public Sphere
Presentation abstract

Disaster Relief Activities of Caritas Ishinomaki BaseSr. Tomoko HOSOYA(Charity of Ottawa)
Caritas Ishinomaki base is a volunteer base run by the Roman Catholic Church. It serves as a relay point
taking in volunteers and dispatching them to the places that need them. In the immediate aftermath of thedisaster there was a lot of physical labor involved in the debris removal activities. At present, however, we
are maintaining links with people we have met at tea party and open-space events at temporary housing
facilities, and lending a sympathetic ear. I will discuss the activities of this volunteer base where the religious
and sectarian affiliations of others are respected and matters of a religious nature are kept away from theforefront, and share some of my actual experiences.
The open-space area on the first floor of the volunteer base is used by people from the neighborhood andresidents of the temporary housing facilities, most of whom have no links with Christianity. It is important toaccept the values of the people one is dealing with before stating one’s own religious values, and to know thevalues of other religions and the customs of the area in which one works. By listening quietly to the things
someone is saying to you, a trust relationship is formed. Once a relationship has deepened, a person may tell
you the things that lie at the depths of their hearts. We must continue an ongoing dialogue in conversation
openly and honestly even where a clear answer cannot be given. Sometimes the person one is engaged withis not looking for a plain answer, but someone who will struggle with these questions along with them.
I have heard of cases of those affected by the disaster feeling that religion or things religious had been
foisted upon them in activities carried out by religious groups. In their enthusiasm, religious groups may act
without due regard to the wishes of those they are working with. This is the cause of their being at odds withthe feelings of those they were seeking to help. Religious persons must be careful in this regard.
Evangelization and preaching are not done with words alone. If we respect the religion of those we areworking with, and have love in our hearts, the message of peace in our various religions will be
communicated without us mentioning the names of “Buddha” or “God”.
The relationship between those affected by the disaster and those working to support them is not one ofthose that have giving to those that have not. Humility, and a heart that understands that aid recipient and aid
giver support one another are necessary for this work.
Presentation abstract

On the Activities of Team Vihara
Rev. Genshū TŌYAMA(Nichiren-shu)
We are sometimes told that funerals are unnecessary. Are they actually
unnecessary? Why do people say they are unnecessary…? What is a funeralin the first place? I have been involved in the funerals of a wide range ofdifferent people. On many occasions those who organized and attended thefunerals were kind enough to say that they were glad they had done so.
Why, then, do we so often hear people in general saying that funerals areunnecessary? I have considered the meaning, the purpose and the role offunerals, and the role of those of a religious vocation.
Considering the role of people of a religious vocation, I thought thatwhat is necessary is to go out of the temple…
As with MIYAZAWA Kenji’s “strong in the rain” (the opening line of his
poem about a simple, quiet, caring and stalwart person)… As with Shakyamuni, who while still a prince
went out from each of the four gates of his city and met with an old person, a sick person, a dead person anda renunciate (and thus decided to go forth from home to homeless mendicancy in search of emancipation)…
In this presentation I will discuss the role of persons of religious vocations though a consideration of theactivities of groups and activities with which I am involved. These activities and groups include the activity—7—

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of caring for people in their last days, which brings us closer to those approaching death, grief support,
which brings us closer to the hearts of those who have lost someone important to them. They also include
shūkatsu (preparation for and contemplation of death), which brings us closer to the question of thesignificance of approaching the end of our lives, and “Team Vihara” (multi-occupational cooperative
association); which brings together many specialists (working in medicine, welfare, memorial services, theprofessions and insurance) in cooperation to understand one another’s areas of expertise (the principles
thereof and the actual work involved).
Presentation abstract

Working as an Interfaith Chaplain in Numaguchi Clinic
Rev. Shidō TANAKA (Jodo Shin-shu Honganjiha)
In the field of medical practice, the role required of me as a Rinshō-shūkyō-shi (Interfaith chaplain) is toprovide spiritual care. At the Numaguchi Clinic we are particularly involved in at-home treatment. I visit
patients in the terminal stages of their illness or those who suffer with chronic illnesses. In interactions withthe patients, many have come to me with spiritual experiences or feelings that they could not tell a clinician.
Patients who approach me with this type of issue generally avoid talking about it to their friends and family.
The reason they avoid talking about it is that they have a deep-seated fear that if they did so, they would betreated as abnormal. When a trusting relationship has been formed with a patient, there are many things thatpatients may confide in a Rinshō-shūkyō-shi (Interfaith chaplain).
There is something that I have noticed in my activities as a member of the at-home treatment team. Thatis, that while those of religious vocations in the churches and temples in the various regions of Japan havethus far had the role of advisors on all matters to all people, this function is gradually being lost due to the
spread of the nuclear family and the weakening (in terms of number and influence) of local temples andchurches throughout Japan. As a part of our activities, we Rinshō-shūkyō-shi (Interfaith chaplains) must takeon the role of forging or re-forging connections with local churches and temples where these are being lost,or have already been lost. In some cases, if we are to take on this role as bridge-builders, we might be called
upon to ascertain what views on life and death are held by a person facing death and the leaving of this life.
This is because the patient and also their family may fear death, turn their backs to death. Thus the patient
and their family they may not feel able to ask these questions. In situations such as this we may also findourselves called upon to act as bridge-builders and go-betweens, working within a family.

Department of Practical Religious Studies,
Graduate School / Faculty of Arts and Letters
Tohoku University
Aoba-ku, Kawauchi 27-1
980-8576 Sendai, Japan
URL: http://www.sal.tohoku.ac.jp/p-religion/top.html
Email: j-shukyo@g-mail.tohoku-university.jp
FAX: 022-795-3831—8—