This article investigates how pets are included or excluded in the human necral landscapes of contemporary Japan. Their placement in mortuary spaces reflects the pets' paradoxical position as hybrids between humans and other nonhuman animals. Since the beginning of the pet boom in the 1990s, a growing number of Japanese pet owners consider their beloved pets family members during their lifetime and feel that they should hence be treated in death like a human. Paralleling changes in human mortuary practices in the modern period, many changes have occurred in mortuary practices involving pets; pets are buried and memorialized with Buddhist rituals, cremation has become the preferred method of disposal for pet bodies, funeral options have become more individualized, pet cemeteries are ubiquitous in the urban landscape, and joint human-pet burials are gaining currency. The inquiry focuses on two examples; the memorialization of pets in the home and the interment of pet cremains in cemeteries. Despite a greater sense of inclusion, contemporary mortuary practices place pets in a liminal position between animals and humans, indicating their status as marginal, temporary family members.

The effects of climate change are global, but small islands are among the most vulnerable places. Local populations on small islands might have a ground-based perspective of the impacts that threaten them. This study was undertaken on Corvo (Azores), where 34% of the residents of both genders and different education levels were surveyed. Here, their understanding of climate change and their perception of its local impacts, the sense of risk, the local areas at risk, the willingness to propose mitigation and adaptation strategies, and the knowledge of regional procedures was analysed. Education played a crucial role in local understanding. The general perception was that the regional policies were insufficient to address climate change issues at the local level. This fact points out that the efforts to mitigate climate change impacts, and the public participation procedures for supporting policy-making, must be significantly increased and improved, in order to reach a real impact on local island communities.

An Annotated Translation 1. For this ritual, a table has been placed in front of the altar. It serves to hold ritual implements and offerings; see Mross (2007, 55). 2. That is, incense, pure water, and flower petals, respectively;

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In contemporary Japan, a Buddhist discourse has emerged that links life and food and centers on gratitude. While the connection between animals and gratitude has a long history in Buddhism, here the meaning of repaying a debt of gratitude has shifted from an emphasis on liberating animals to consuming them with gratitude, thereby replacing anti-meat-eating arguments with a sacrificial rationale. This rationale is also apparent in Partaking of Life, a children’s book written by a Jōdo Shin Buddhist adherent, which has found a receptive audience in Jōdo Shin circles, including the voice-acting troupe Team Ichibanboshi. This article provides a close reading of Partaking of Life: The Day That Little Mii Becomes Meat, followed by historical contexts for Buddhist vegetarianism and discrimination against professions that rely on killing animals, particularly as these themes pertain to Jōdo Shin Buddhism. The essay ends on an analysis of Team Ichibanboshi’s sermon on Partaking of Life.