January 20, 2025
BuddhismQ&A
Kuyo and the Importance of Remembering and Forgetting
The Japanese kanji and meaning for Kuyo (供養) apparently has no real direct equivalent in Chinese. I occasiona lly run across questions online f rom mainland Chinese exchange students in Japan asking what it means. The standard English translation, “memorial,” does almost nothing to convey what Kuyo really is.
Kuyo is praying for the spirit of the deceased to be nourished by our earthly efforts so they attain enlightenment. In this way, Kuyo is more closely related to the original ancient Indian Buddhist ceremonies and elements of Vietnamese Buddhism. This suggests that the cultural influences for Kuyo traveled to along the southern trade routes to Japan.
In traditional Japanese Buddhism through the Showa era, the 50th memorial year was the usual cutoff. However, these days the cutoff is the 33rd memorial since most of the people that are directly connected with the deceased would no longer be around to do Kuyo for them, and it is not the responsibility for later generations.
Japanese Buddhist practitioners say that forgetting is just as important in Kuyo as remembering. That sounds like a contradiction, but it is important to let go of the past even as one honors it with Kuyo prayers. This is a natural progression not only for the living, but also for the spirits of the deceased, to leave past lives behind and to become enlightened.
2020 marks the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II. The annual Kuyo ceremony for all victims of the war and prayer for world peace was held on August 15 at the Chidorigafuchi National Cemetery. This year’s event was drastically scaled down because of COVID-19, but I think it will continue to get smaller over time as the number of people with direct connections with the war becomes smaller and smaller.
When it disappears entirely I hope people will remember to forget, in the right way. I do not believe that the people of any generation would want Kuyo to go on forever or would want to burden future generations with the responsibility. They wanted them to be free from the past and to lead happy lives. The ultimate goal of Kuyo is happiness and enlightenment for all beings in the past, present and future.