Dealing With Death

Each and every culture follows a certain set of distinct practices that are distinct and specific to each individual culture. The common Western perception of Japan's ambiguous practices stems from the extreme difference in views correlated with the widespread lack of knowledge concerning the ancient culture steeped in tradition. Japan's widely Buddhist population is known for their calm acceptance of death as a part of life. One particular, perplexing cultural practice is the tradition of writing jisei, or "death poetry" when on the verge of death. A thorough understanding of Japanese Death Poems provides an explicitly accurate depiction of the Japanese attitude towards death and the Zen Buddhist philosophy that helped form this attitude.

Buddhism stresses the importance of "seeing things in their suchness" and realizing that everything is subject to change. The basic doctrines of Buddhism are governed...