Buddhist Mummy or ‘Living Buddha’? The Politics of Immortality in Japanese Buddhism

Abstract

ABSTRACT To this day, the robed remains of mummified monks are venerated as ‘living Buddhas’ in northeastern Japan. Widely believed to have mummified themselves through strict adherence to ascetic regimen, temple patrons claim that these living Buddhas are capable of transmitting telepathic messages and curing disease, even of saving lives in the real time of disaster. In this article, I examine the ontological and symbolic basis of their purported immortality. Also, its politics, which emerge in contested historical narratives and assertions of authenticity about which mummified monks are real, true immortals and which are forgeries, curated corpses on display. As I demonstrate, such narratives are grounded in competing historicities of the automummification process. They are also situated in a competitive tourism industry. I argue that the bodies of these saintly figures are multi-temporal, semiotically charged, and political. Enduring faith in their posthumous vitality is not just a matter of theological exegesis. It is sustained by the interpretations of human suffering, history, and salvation that their anachronistic presence conjures for the living.