Japanese Afterlife

The Japanese Afterlife comprises a mixture of beliefs, most notably from Shinto and Buddhism. The longstanding relationship between Buddhism and Shinto and the Japanese peoples' acceptance of both religion makes a single concept of an afterlife difficult to define.

The Afterlife in Shinto

As an animistic and shamanistic religion, Shinto emphasizes the celebration of life on Earth. The general concepts concerning the afterlife is the belief that a person becomes a spirit-deity, and eventually becomes a part of a collective ancestral spirit. Even though an afterlife isn't heavily emphasized, a Hades-like realm, called Yomi, is briefly mentioned in the Nihongi and Kojiki within the creation story involving Izanagi no Mikoto and Izanami no Mikoto.

While not as popular among the Japanese citizenry, Shinto funeral services do exist.

The Afterlife in Buddhism

In Japan, Buddhist funeral rites are more widely practiced than the funeral rites of Shinto, mainly because there is a greater emphasis on the wellbeing of a person's soul after death in Buddhism than Shinto.