Study Of "KAMI" and "HOTOKE" in Japan

The Tohoku earthquake and tsunami of March 11, 2011, caused unprecedented suffering. The search for missing people continued long after the earthquake. On the other hand, on February 10, 2001, the training ship Ehime Maru of Uwajima Fisheries High School was struck by the US nuclear submarine Greeneville, and it sank off the coast of Oahu, Hawaii. Nine of the 35 crew members (including four high school students) went missing, and opinions on continuing the search for victims differed between Japan and the US. The Japanese people's attachment to the "body" has been unbroken from ancient times, and it is seen as a characteristic of Kami or god. However, we also aim to abandon all attachments to this world, including our body, to become Hotoke (attain Buddhahood). This lecture examines the relationship between Kami and Hotoke in Japan based on historical changes, focusing on the contradictory views regarding the body and death that Japanese people hold as a double standard.

Kami, Hotoke, Body

Week 1: Course Overview
Week 2: Modern Japanese View of the Body, Life, and Death: Through the Tohoku Earthquake, the Ehime Maru Incident, and 9/11
Week 3: Kami and the Body (1): Visiting Spirits, Kami with Physical Bodies
Week 4: Kami and the Body (2): Through the Legend of Mt. Miwa and the Ancient Folktale Hebi Mukoiri (Snake Son-in-Law)
Week 5: Development of Shinto-Buddhist Syncretism (1): Abolition of Buddhism Part 1
Week 5: Development of Shinto-Buddhist Syncretism (2): Abolition of Buddhism Part 2
Week 6: Development of Shinto-Buddhist Syncretism (3): An Overview of Shinto-Buddhist Syncretism
Week 7: Development of Shinto-Buddhist Syncretism (4): Arrival of Buddhism (Before the Heian Period) Part 1
Week 8: Development of Shinto-Buddhist Syncretism (5): Arrival of Buddhism (Before the Heian Period) Part 2
Week 9: Development of Shinto-Buddhist Syncretism (6): The Country and Guardian Deities (Heian Period and After) Part 1
Week 10: Development of Shinto-Buddhist Syncretism (7): The Country and Guardian Deities (Heian Period and After) Part 2
Week 11: Development of Shinto-Buddhist Syncretism (8): Curses of Kami
Week 12: Development of Shinto-Buddhist Syncretism (9): Kami Who Became Buddhas and Those Who Did not (Kamakura Period and After) Part 1
Week 13: Development of Shinto-Buddhist Syncretism (10): Kami Who Became Buddhas and Those Who Did not (Kamakura Period and After) Part 2
Week 14: Development of Shinto-Buddhist Syncretism (11): Buddha Approaching Kami Part 1
Week 15: Development of Shinto-Buddhist Syncretism (12): Buddha Approaching Kami Part 2
Midterm Examination: Report

Syllabus (Japanese site only)