Changing views of life and death in first-person’s perspective through near-death experience

The case of Japan

Abstract

A near-death experience is a transcendental and mystical phenomenon that an individual experiences in the hour of close to death or in critical condition. This article concerns seventeen cases of near-death experience in Japan. Data used for analysis　derived from semi-structured interviews. To examine how individuals’ view of life and death change after having such experience, the author compares two groups of individuals: those who had a near-death experience and those who were critically ill due to cancer and returned to life without having a near-death experience. Analysis reveals a significant difference between these groups regarding time consciousness. Individuals in the first group are conscious of a time after death, while those in the latter group emphasize a life time before death. Thus this difference leads us to conclude that a near-death experience can extend an individual’s view of life and death.