Translated from Kitaro no Tengoku to Jigoku
When talking about Japan’s idea of Heaven, there are many things to consider such as era, location and religion. Even the location changes, sometimes being across the ocean, sometimes up above the skies and sometimes being beneath the Earth.
From long ago, the Japanese people have dreamed of and longed for Heaven. From the depths of hearts full of big dreams and longings, they created many different versions of the Heaven, and then lived their lives to become magnificent human beings in order to travel to these idealized paradises. Never surrendering regardless of the pain and suffering, they struggled to live to the best of their abilities, or so many stories say.
To those ancestors who watch over us here in Japan, Heaven is not a dream or something they long for. However, it is best not to spend too much time pondering Heaven, and much better to live your life to the fullest and learn what you can while you are still around.
百物語怪談会 Hyakumonogatari Kaidankai 
Sep 02, 2016 @ 02:57:41
You should have at least told them about the different afterlives. This entry (while certainly reflecting a Japanese ideal of “best not to think about it”) drops the ball of scholarship I have come to expect from your blog. What about Tokoyo? What about the Root World? What about Yomi???