Doomish wrote:Technically your hatred of Misha's mother is unfounded; she didn't come back because Misha's father had money, she came back because she literally would not be able to support herself and Misha otherwise. She didn't report him to the authorities earlier because he had the power to silence her by abusing Misha to get to her. She stayed with him out of fear, not love nor wealth. Her death served basically as her release from the torment, and now she gets to be all peaceful in the afterlife while Misha always carries a bit of her in her heart.
Exactly so! That you did get right! Japanese religious views are surprising and quite eclectic. That's why they say a Japanese person is born as Shinto, marries as a Christian and dies a Buddhist. But from what I've glanced, when it comes to the afterlife, many Japanese tend to believe in a "Heavenly Land", "Heaven", or "That World". for exampl, I saw quite a few Japanese TV programs where the death of a person was described euphemistically as their "journey to Heaven." As I understand it, in Japan, Heaven is seen as the peaceful afterlife that mirrors this world, from where the ancestors watch over their offspring, and from where the departed are sometimes reincarnated back into our world.
I have to make the the precision that it's often felt that through one's own death, one's sins are punished and expunged. Which means that suicide can be seen sometimes as a way to repent or show remorse. Which would likely have been the case for Misha's father. He would probably have realized he was in the wrong after losing his job (almost inevitable in Japan since he got arrested) and when he sobered up in police jail. Knowing no way other to set things straight he'd be likely to decide to die to repent.
Misha, as an /almost/ regular Japanese girl who is not not too deep into science, would most likely believe indeed that her mother was looking over her from Heaven. And she's set up a photo of her mother on a high shelf in her room in Yamaku, with offering flowers and rice wine, and make a short prayer with three claps of her hands and three bows every day.
Kind Regards, B.
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