The sotoba (the Japanese pronunciation of stupa) is a narrow wooden slab set upright at or beside a grave in most Japanese Buddhist sects (Jodo Shinshu being the standard exception), inscribed with the deceased's posthumous Buddhist name and, typically, Sanskrit-derived characters (bonji) representing the five elements. Cut with notches along its upper edge, it is supplied by the temple that conducts the funeral and is periodically replaced or added to at memorial anniversaries.
Facts
Use
Who May Handle ItClergy or ordained officiants only 1 ConsecrationBlessed before use, without a rite of consecration 1 Material (class) Attributions
TraditionJapanese Buddhism, most sects 1 Meaning
Symbolic MeaningThe notched top of the sotoba plank is cut into stages read as a stylized stupa, and its Sanskrit-derived characters name the five elements the body is understood to return to. 1 Identity
Category of Sacred ObjectA narrow wooden memorial marker inscribed with Buddhist text, placed at a grave. 1 Connections
Associated With
This source names Jodo Shinshu directly: "grave in most Japanese Buddhist sects (Jodo Shinshu being the standard exception), inscribed with the deceased's posthumous Buddhist name and, typically, Sanskrit-derived characters (bonji)..."
Source Encyclopedia of ReligionMircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.)
Belongs to Tradition
Source Encyclopedia of ReligionMircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.)
Related To
Sources
1. Encyclopedia of Religion
Mircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.), Macmillan Reference, 2005on Japanese Buddhist funerary practiceView the Source Reader Challenges (0)
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