1- Duncan Stone

Religion & Ethics

Duncan Stone

Religion and Ethics

Tuesday-Thursday 1530-1650

Religion & Ethics Paper #2

When foreigners think of Japanese Buddhism, they mostly think about the influence that the

religion had on architecture and politics in cities such as Kamakura, where Buddhism had the

greatest impact. The reading notes though, that many of the people who visit this city both

Japanese and foreign will spend most of their time looking at the temples and grand Buddha,

and that only a few will visit a smaller temple with a graveyard out back. The graveyard is

filled with the corpses of various children from the aborted to the stillborn. Unlike western

cultures, many Japanese Buddhist continue to believe that their children are still alive in one

way or another, and these cemeteries are unique because of this belief. Through the lens of

religion, it seems that these children or their parents rather can have a relationship with them

even though they were never born alive.

Western cemeteries are very somber places, where the dead are buried and occasionally

visited by the living. Without almost any exception, those buried there have survived

childbirth and have lived for some period, no matter how small. In direct contrast to this are

the many Japanese Buddhist temples (both new and old) that exist in places such as

Kamakura or Chichibu, where the entire space is devoted solely to the graves of those

children who died before birth of either natural causes or abortion. The author notes that
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Religion & Ethics

these temples are almost insignificant in the midst of the carefully honed with their

multitude of Jizo images (LaFleur, 3). Although similar on the surface, we can already see

how the Buddhist burial tradition is already diverting from that of the west, as unlike the

west there are Buddhist temples with graveyards devoted entirely to those who were not able

to make it into this world. In this way, although they never really existed, these children are

honored, and remembered.

What is interesting about these gravestones is that they are done in the shape of a small

child-like monk, with firmly closed eyes, and perhaps even small staffs similar to those of

ancient Buddhist priests, and not in the plain slab with RIP as seen in the western tradition.

By why has it been done this way? The author uses a guide sheet from one of the sites to

explain the dual nature that these statues serve saying on the one hand it can represent the

soul of the deceased child/fetus for the parents who are doing rites of apology to it/ At the

same time, however, the Jizo is also the one to whom can be made an appeal or prayer to to

guide the child or fetus through the realm of departed souls. (LaFleur, 8). In this way, one

can not only use the headstone as a physical manifestation of the soul to speak with and

apologize to it, but also as a guiding light that helps the dead in their journeys through the

afterlife. In this light, the depiction of a miniature monk is very apt as it both captures some

of the features of a child, but also the religious role that this item plays in interceding on

behalf of the dead. This dual nature of the Buddhist headstone and mysticism it invokes sets

it apart from the far more mundane western markers, many of which are just to show the site

that someone is buried at.

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Religion & Ethics

Because of the roles that these miniature gravestones/shrines have they appear to be heavily

decorated by the parents of those buried there. Similarly, to the way that one might place

flowers or other keepsakes and mementos at a western grave, it is not uncommon for these

graves to be surrounded by gifts and flowers as well. However, these gifts one could argue

might be some sort of sacrifice, as these are the toys that these children would have had (if

they had been born), but never received. Additionally, some are even covered in small

garments or miniature umbrellas to help protect them from the weather. Many of these

graveyards also have playgrounds that other children from a family may use to play on, while

apologies are made to the child who was aborted. The author notes that all of these different

sights combine to form an atmosphere that is extremely different from the more downcast

and somber surroundings of a European or American graveyard. This seems to be because a

visit to one of these graveyards is seen as something of a reunion between both the living

family, and the deceased child (who despite having been fetuses when they were terminated

in the womb, are children in the afterlife the eyes of their parents. Therefore, these

graveyards are not only places where the dead are buried, but also where the living can come

to visit, apologize, and play with the spirits of the unborn, and not simple places of

remembrance like western graveyards.

Outside of Japan, however, many other Buddhists find this practice to be very odd (and

some might say wrong),as the parents of these unborn children are able to go to the temple

where their child is buried and preform apologies and other religions to absolve themselves

of the guilt of having preformed an abortion indeed the author notes that many are critical for

what they see as their failure to level a stern condemnation of the abortion practices now
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Religion & Ethics

widely accepted in their society (LaFleur, 10). Indeed, many Buddhists believe that taking a

life is against one of the first major precepts of their religion, and Japanese Buddhist

themselves refer to the fetus as a child, even when they intend to abort the child. This seems

hard to reconcile at first, but the author does explain that there are differences in the mind of

Japanese Buddhists between the principles of their religion and the moral facts of life. In

fact, the Japanese seem to have developed a whole system based on this, and many women

who have had abortions in Japan still consider themselves to be good Buddhists despite

having preformed an abortion and effectively killing a living creature in the eyes of their

religion. It seems that in Japanese Buddhism that many rules can be relaxed based on the

situation on the ground, unlike the western religions which tend to have harsher laws when it

comes to issues such as these.

Abortion in Japanese Buddhism is a practice that is gaining ground (I hesitate to use the

word popularity as that seems disrespectful) in modern day Japan as the population continues

to climb and economic uncertainty means life is now no longer stable for many potential

families. Because of this many Buddhist temples in Japan, and especially in locations such as

Kamakura and Chichibu are the sight of massive graveyards filled with the graves of these

unborn children and fetuses and a small industry of building these temples and graveyards

seems to be underway in Japan today. However, these graveyards serve as a way for the

families of these children to come together in a reunion, a sight to pray for forgiveness and

ask for guidance on behalf of these souls in the afterlife, and finally as shrines where toys,

flowers, clothes and other gifts can be placed for use by those buried within. However, these

sights and indeed the act of abortion remain very controversial in the eyes of Buddhists both
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in Japan and throughout the world as the act of abortion seems to go against one of the

religions major beliefs. Despite this, abortion in the Buddhist tradition remains one of the

major parts of Japanese Buddhism (albeit a controversial one), and is unlikely to go away

any time soon.