Cover Image
QR Code

"Heart Sutra Pop": Religious Textual Democratization by a Sexy Vocal Android.

In 2010, the publication of "Heart Sutra Pop," an online animated video featuring the cyber-idol Hatsune Miku singing the Heart Sutra, launched a viral enthusiasm for the text that is unmatched throughout its more than twelve-hundred-year history in Japan. This article explores the digital rebirth o...

Full description

Published in:Journal of Religion & Popular Culture Vol. 33; no. 1; pp. 29 - 48
Main Author: Shultz, John
Format: Article
Published: University of California Press Spring 2021
Subjects:
Streaming video & television
Heart
Democratization
Japanese history
Singing
Religious leaders
Japan
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
Summary:In 2010, the publication of "Heart Sutra Pop," an online animated video featuring the cyber-idol Hatsune Miku singing the Heart Sutra, launched a viral enthusiasm for the text that is unmatched throughout its more than twelve-hundred-year history in Japan. This article explores the digital rebirth of the sutra and the rise of an unlikely virtual spiritual leader. I argue that this cyber-idol-driven sutra boom is both doctrinally justifiable and consistent with a wave of new media initiatives by Japanese Buddhists.