Roundtables of Japanese Religious and Medical Professionals

The Ojo and Death Project

Roundtables of Japanese Religious
and Medical Professionals

March 8 & 15, 2008

These small and intimate roundtables were scheduled as a follow up from the previous year’s public symposium and workshop held at Zojo-ji in June 2007. The first purpose was to create an opportunity for the participants of the workshops to further reflect on the issues worked on in June. The second purpose was to provide a space for religious and medical professionals to further discuss what can actually be done to address the problems and potentials for spiritual care in medical environments in Japan. In this way, we decide to hold two separate sessions that allowed us to focus more deeply on the two different sides of the issue: the medical side and the religious side.

Roundtable #1 for Religious Professionals
Theme: How can we change our religious institutions to meet peoples’ needs, both spiritual and physical? What are some religious people actually doing in this area? What are the barriers to action? What are the possibilities and vision? What can we do to realize them?

Presentations:
Issues and Potentials for Buddhists: Opening up to Spiritual Care
仏教者の課題と可能性: スピリチュアルケアを切り口として
Rev. Yozo Taniyama (Jodo Shin-shu priest and Lecturer at Nisshi Tenno-ji International Buddhist University)

The Concept of Vihara Activities and the Nichiren-shu Vihara Network
ビハーラ活動の理念と日蓮宗ビハーラネットワーク
Dr./Rev. Kangen Shibata (Nichiren-shu priest and Head of the Nichiren-shu Vihara Project for terminal care)

Roundtable #2 for Medical Professionals
Theme: What are your needs, hopes, and expectations of religious professionals and institutions in dealing with the increasing crisis of terminal care in Japan?

Presentations:
The Situation of Terminal Health Care and the Role of Religious Professionals: A View towards the Future and the Role of Medical Schools and University Hospitals
終末期医療の現状と宗教者の役割: 医学部および大学病院の役割と今後の展望
Dr. James Okano (Assistant Professor, Kieo University School of Medicine)

Earnestly Addressing Doctors’ “Explanation and Consent” in order to Reconstruct Doctor-Patient Trust and Relationship
新しい医師と患者の信頼と人間関係を築いていくために、医師は「説明を同意」を真剣に考え
Dr./Rev. Kojun Fukui (Jodo Shu priest and former President of the Tokyo Doctor’s Association)