RT Article
T1 "Heart Sutra Pop": Religious Textual Democratization by a Sexy Vocal Android
JF Journal of religion and popular culture
VO 33
IS 1
SP 29
OP 47
A1 Shultz, John
LA English
YR 2021
UL https://ixtheo.de/Record/1752610210
AB 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.
K1 Hatsune Miku
K1 Heart Sutra
K1 Animation
K1 cyber-idol
K1 Otaku
K1 spiritual booms
K1 textuality
DO 10.3138/jrpc.2019-0040