A historical review on the recognition of well-being and diseases in Japanese literature: its multiplex construction.
In 1997 the Japanese government enacted a law concerning organ transplantation offered by brain-dead patients. However, there were no cases of transplantation carried out according to this law during this one year. This might be partly explained by the psychological background of the recognition of well-being, disease or death among Japanese citizens. This investigation was performed in an attempt to reveal the psychological background of matter among Japanese citizens as shown in Japanese literature from ancient to modern times. The result showed that a multiplex construction exists in the recognition of well-being, disease or death which is partly inherited by modern Japanese citizens. (1) Pre-Buddhist era: people believed that soul and spirit were immortal, and also believed in the miraculous power of language. (2) Old-Buddhist era: people believed in the power of an evil spirit or imprecation, and incantation and prayers were very common procedures to avoid such ill omens. (3) New-Buddhist era: people felt themselves drawn toward yearning for the world of Buddha, and believed in the future existence. (4) Confucianism and Buddhism era: people worshiped God and Buddha, and accepted any trouble as misfortune. (5) Modern science era: people recognize the value of rationality.
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D001293:Attitude to Death; D004194:Disease; D006304:Health Status; D049690:History, Ancient; D049692:History, Early Modern 1451-1600; D049691:History, Medieval; D049711:History, Modern 1601-; D007564:Japan; D011639:Public Opinion; D012069:Religion and Psychology; D012647:Self-Assessment