In mediaeval Japan, a Buddhist monk named Genshin wrote a text depicting possible forms of suffering in the afterlife. With this work, he sowed the seeds which allowed the concept of ‘Jigoku’ (‘hell’) to spread throughout Japan. Understanding why he wrote this book and why people accepted this concept is key to understanding the rich and varied images of hell that exist in Japanese popular culture today.

Drawing on classic depictions of hell in Japanese art, this talk looks at the cultural and historical roots of present-day understandings of ‘hell’ in Japan.

https://jpf.org.au/events/possible-afterlives-the-buddhist-concept-of-hell-and-the-next-world/