A Comparative Culture Study of Japanese Views of Life, Death, and the Afterworld : Tradition and Change

1.田野调查主要以地域和类型研究为主，既有岛下和冲绳的大寿山人间观照调查，也有后藤、平道、石城的基督教遗址田野调查。也有在熊野、天户、奈良、名古屋等地进行的个人研究。有关于这项研究的报道和讨论，结果被写在我们的研究报告中。问卷调查主要是伦理学和现代研究部门对《当代城市墓地与葬礼》和《脑死亡与器官移植》进行的问卷调查。这项研究的结果被写在我们的研究报告中。比较文化研究琉球大学的东贺正夫教授和明明正信教授以及爱荷华大学的斯蒂芬·弗拉斯托斯教授作了介绍，然后我们进行了讨论。公众座谈会在东京都东岛区教育委员会的合作下，在立交大学举办了两场座谈会：“来世的各种观点”和“现代的生死”。这些座谈会的成果被写进了我们的研究报告中。完成研究报告我们完成了我们的研究报告，并将其汇集成一卷，题为《日本人的生死观和来世的比较文化研究：传统与变化》，并将其分发给各研究机构。我们能够取得上述结果，但我们相信这只是一个开始。特别是关于田野调查的学术研究，我们面临着一个严重的问题，那就是如何最好地将这一研究成果提供给社会。考虑到这个问题，我们意识到我们应该努力继续这项研究并完成它，所以我们再次申请必要的研究资金来实现这一点。

1. Fieldwork SurveysMainly the research sections on regions and types conducted both a survey of views of the other world in Osorezan in Shimokita and Okinawa, and did fieldwork on Christian ruins in Goto, Hirado, and Ikitsuki. There was also individual research conducted in Kumano, Tendo, Nara, Nagoya, etc. There were reports on and discussion of this research, and the results were written up in our research reports.2. Questionnaire SurveysMainly the research sections on ethics and modern times conducted questionnaire survey on "Contemporary Urban Cemeteries and Funerals" and "Brain Death and Organ Transplants." The results of this research were written up in our research reports.3. Comparative Culture ResearchProfessor Masao Higa and Masanobu Akamine of the University of Ryukyu and Professor Stephen Vlastos of the University of Iowa gave presentations, and then we discussed them.4. Public SymposiaWith the cooperation of Tokyo's Toshima Ward Education Committee, two symposia were held at Rikkyo University : "Various Views of the Afterworld" and "Life and Death in Modern Times." The results of these symposia were written up in our research reports.5. Completion of Research ReportsWe completed and brought together our research reports in a volume entitled, A comparative Culture Study of Japanese Views of Life, Death, and the Afterworld : Tradition and Change, and distributed it to various research institutions.We were able to achieve the results described above, but we belive that the are only a beginning. In paticular, in regard to the academic research on fieldwork, we face the serious problem of how best to make this research available to socitey. Considering this problem, we realized that we should try to continue this research and bring it to completion, and so we are once again applying for necessary research funds in order to accomplish this.