
In this modern era of an aging society, the time that people spend in old age and with illnesses is becoming longer. Professor Kazuyoshi Terao from the Graduate School of Applied Religious Studies talks about the words that people seek for salvation as they descend down a gentle slope toward death.
When we think about death, we try to find answers from something that transcends humans. A typical example is religion, but many things influence our thinking, including philosophy, ethics, art, literature, and sometimes, even politics and the economy. Applied religious studies gathers all such knowledge to respond to modern issues from a religious perspective.
In my case, I undertake research looking at two traditional religious—Christianity and Buddhism—while seeking to contribute in some way toward this major project in life called welcoming death.
The essence left after filtering away words often found in religion

I focus on words used in religion. Religion uses too many words. There are so many words that you can never digest them in a lifetime, no matter how hard you work to learn them. Conversely, what are the words left when you thoroughly filter them? That is where my interest lies.
My research mainly looks at people who lived religiously. For example, among Japanese Catholic priests who studied in Europe, many of them have faced dilemmas between their spiritual side—nurtured in Japan—and the Catholic religion in Europe. In that torment, when they thought seriously about their own spirituality, it seems that some of the words that they arrived at were unexpectedly Buddhist words.
Catholic priest Yoji Inoue came up with the words “Namu Abba.” It is a prayer that combines “Namu” from the Buddhist prayer “Namu Amida Butsu” and “Abba,” the word that Jesus used in the Bible to call God the Father.
Such words would have been seen as unorthodox in traditional religious studies, but they are extremely thought-provoking when examined from the perspective of applied religious studies. The process of blending words of traditional religions in a new way, overlaying them with one’s own life, and polishing them into words that also strike at the hearts of others is truly profound.
Those who had devoted their lives to their companies seek words
As society ages, the period spent in old age becomes longer. Along the way may be illnesses and dementia. Everyone feels uncertainty and doubt, and few of them have the words to express such feelings and solve them. Having lived through the period of rapid economic growth and the bubble economy as company employees, they know many business and economic terms. However, they did not use words that talk about their own thinking and philosophy.
I have many friends around me who have already reached statutory retirement. They had no interest in my work in the past, but now, they say things like “Your research looks interesting.” They probably started to notice that my research has the words that they seek.
We are often told to prepare early for old age. This is not just an issue of savings and a place to live. What is truly important is the spiritual preparation of facing death. This is because such a preparation requires you to spend time for it to mature.
Young and old, male and female, this is an inevitable task for everyone living in the modern age. I hope people will find hints by casually picking up the learning of religion, just like enjoying art and music. Applied religious studies can be helpful in such an endeavor.
The book I recommend
“Sei to Shi no Kyokaisen”(The Line Bordering Life and Death)
narrated by Hiroshi Iwai and compiled by Seigo Matsuoka, Kodansha

This is an epic volume narrated by psychiatrist Hiroshi Iwai—who was afflicted with cancer and hanging between life and death—up until his death and recorded by writer Seigo Matsuoka. Rational and logical throughout with no hint of anything religious, I felt a sense of loftiness and pain in this book and wanted to seek something that lies beyond.
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Kazuyoshi Terao
- Professor
Master’s (Doctoral) Program in Death and Life Studies
Graduate School of Applied Religious Studies
- Professor
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Graduated from the School of Political Science and Economics, Waseda University, and received his Ph.D. in Arts after completing the doctoral program in the Graduate Program in Theology of Nanzan University’s Graduate School of Arts and Letters. Took on the appointments of professor at Wakayama Shin-Ai Women’s Junior College and at St. Catherine University before assuming his current position in 2019.
- Master’s (Doctoral) Program in Death and Life Studies
Interviewed: November 2023