The Death of Children at Public Schools: Religious Studies Research on the Psychological Acceptance of Disaster related Deaths

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15K02052
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Religious studies
• Research Institution: Tohoku University
• Principal Investigator: OHMURA TETSUO 東北大学, 文学研究科, 助教 (30620281)
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: 東日本大震災 / 死者供養 / 学校 / 子ども / グアテマラ / 追悼・慰霊 / 卒業証書 / グリーフ・ケア

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Many school children fell victim to the Great East Japan Earthquake; however, at public schools, where religious activities are prohibited, religious ritual based memorial services could not be conducted. Consequently, this leads us to ask, how are disaster related deaths accepted in society? To answer this question, I conducted a fact-finding survey of schools that issued diplomas to pupils that were disaster victims. The result was that in many cases the schools, which ranged from kindergarten to high school, and not the bereaved families, proposed the conferring of diplomas to deceased pupils. Further, in accords with folk beliefs the year for conferring the diploma correlated with the presupposed aging after death of the school children.
Additionally, as a comparison, I conducted fieldwork among the indigenous people of Guatemala and learned that there is ritual for children, who are commonly thought to be closer to God.

Free Research Field

宗教心理学，臨床死生学，宗教人類学