Abstract
This study clarifies that there are various types of life review phenomena associated with near-death experiences (NDEs) and related occurrences, grounded in first-person narratives from Japanese experiencers. Recent advances in NDE research have expanded the definition of such experiences beyond states of physical near-death. They now include fear-death experiences elicited by acute psychological crises, as well as near-death-like experiences that occur without any actual threat to life. Although these phenomena may appear superficially similar, qualitative analysis reveals that life reviews reported during deepening NDEs possess distinct phenomenological characteristics that are not found in fear-death scenarios. The study presents explanatory frameworks for each type of experience and concludes that the expansion of conscious awareness during life review may correspond to post-mortem transitional processes. This perspective supports a nonreductive framework for understanding consciousness at the threshold of death and invites further interdisciplinary exploration into the nature of mind and experience.
