Maybe we're immortal. It's not a new idea. Christianity's appeal over 2,000 years rests largely on its promise of eternal life. In Japanese Buddhism, the soul passes from life to life — a dreadful prospect, it was held, which only the enlightened escaped.
Buddhist karma secularized is reincarnation. Some people believe in it. Most probably don't. Interest in it flares from time to time. It's flaring now, says Shukan Post magazine (Jan. 11). No wonder, with Japan soon to pass from Heisei to a brand new, still unnamed, era.
A little boy in the Kansai region gave his mom a jolt one afternoon in Heisei 15 (2003). She was peeling garlic. Suddenly little Tomo, aged 3 years 11 months, piped up, "Let me do that." Mom's eyes widened. Tomo explained, "I used to do it before I was called Tomo."