Life After Death Today in the United States, Japan, and China

“This is an insightful often compelling exploration into a topic that seldom receives the attention it deserves. Exceptionally important and enduring, it is a delight to read. The comparative aspect elevates the philosophical anthropology investigation into an analysis that is as satisfying as it is memorable.”William Jankowiak, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, USA

“This research contributes to evolving concepts of death, afterlife, and immortality in the contemporary world, and how they mediate with the working of cultures. Its extensive examination of death, immortality, and afterlife crosses the boundaries of anthropology, sociology, psychology, and religious studies. The magnitude of ethnographic data collected by the authors will also impress academic or non-academic readers alike.”Hikaru Suzuki, Editor of Death and Dying in Contemporary Japan (Routledge: 2012)

Gordon Mathews is Professor in the Dept. of Anthropology at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Yang Yang has an M.Phil. degree in Anthropology from the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Miu Ying Kwong has an M.Phil. degree in Anthropology from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, writing her thesis on senses of life after death in south China.