Kegare

Kegare (穢れ・汚れ^?, uncleanness, defilement) is the Japanese term for a state of pollution and defilement, important particularly in Shinto as a religious term. Typical causes of kegare are the contact with any form of death, childbirth (for both parents), disease and menstruation. In Shinto kegare is a form of tsumi (taboo violation), which needs to be somehow remedied by the person responsible. This condition can be remedied through purification rites called misogi and harae. Kegare can have an adverse impact not only on the person directly affected, but also to the community he or she belongs to.

Kegare is not a form of moral judgment, but rather a spontaneous reaction to amoral natural forces. Whether the defiling was caused by a deliberate act, as for example in the case of a crime, or by an external event, such as illness or death, is secondary. It is therefore not an equivalent of sin.

Death as a source of kegare

The concept of kegare from death still has considerable force within Japanese society, even during Buddhist funerals. Death and everything having to do with it are seen as a primary source of defilement.