{"id":11921,"date":"2024-02-12T12:29:32","date_gmt":"2024-02-12T18:29:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/arthistory\/?p=11921"},"modified":"2024-04-25T14:39:39","modified_gmt":"2024-04-25T19:39:39","slug":"robo-buddhism-kokoro-technology-and-spirituality-in-japan-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/arthistory\/robo-buddhism-kokoro-technology-and-spirituality-in-japan-today\/","title":{"rendered":"Robo-Buddhism: Kokoro, Technology, and Spirituality in Japan Today"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Public lecture by Dr. Jennifer Robertston, Professor emerita, Departments of Anthropology and Art History, Michigan State University<\/h2>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Kokoro (\u5fc3) is widely and innovatively used in everyday parlance and figures in many Japanese idioms. Kokoro connotes intellectual, emotional, and spiritual states and attributes. Kokoro is also a key lexeme in Japan\u2019s two main religions: the animistic native Shint\u014d and Buddhism. In August 2017, SoftBank\u2019s humanoid robot Pepper role-played as a Buddhist priest at a funeral services expo under the supervision of a human priest who assessed whether the robot was able perform \u201cwith kokoro.\u201d When theorizing human-robot interactions, roboticists also include kokoro as a crucial quality and effect of social engagement. Kokoro figures centrally in the titles of several Japanese books on robots and AI. Several cognitive roboticists are working to \u201cimagineer\u201d (imagine + engineer) robot kokoro through innovative software algorithms and creative interpretations of AI. Pepper was conceived as a humanoid robot \u201cwith kokoro.\u201d Technology and robots have been developed and applied for both secular and religious purposes, although the appropriation of robotic technologies and AI for religious purposes is perhaps less recognized than their secular applications. This presentation explores how religious technologies and affective human-robot relations are conjointly imagineered theoretically and in practice.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-11923\" src=\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/arthistory\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/118\/2024\/02\/robobuddhism-jennifer-roberson-300x169.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" srcset=\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/arthistory\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/118\/2024\/02\/robobuddhism-jennifer-roberson-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/uwm.edu\/arthistory\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/118\/2024\/02\/robobuddhism-jennifer-roberson-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/uwm.edu\/arthistory\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/118\/2024\/02\/robobuddhism-jennifer-roberson-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/uwm.edu\/arthistory\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/118\/2024\/02\/robobuddhism-jennifer-roberson.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Public lecture by Dr. Jennifer Robertston, Professor emerita, Departments of Anthropology and Art History, Michigan State University Kokoro (\u5fc3) is widely and innovatively used in everyday parlance and figures in many Japanese idioms. Kokoro connotes intellectual, emotional, and spiritual states &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9822,"featured_media":11922,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","uwm_wg_additional_authors":[]},"categories":[747,28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11921","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.3 (Yoast SEO v27.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Art History<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/arthistory\/robo-buddhism-kokoro-technology-and-spirituality-in-japan-today\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Robo-Buddhism: Kokoro, Technology, and Spirituality in Japan Today\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Public lecture by Dr. Jennifer Robertston, Professor emerita, Departments of Anthropology and Art History, Michigan State University Kokoro (\u5fc3) is widely and innovatively used in everyday parlance and figures in many Japanese idioms. Kokoro connotes intellectual, emotional, and spiritual states &hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/arthistory\/robo-buddhism-kokoro-technology-and-spirituality-in-japan-today\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Art History\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-02-12T18:29:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-04-25T19:39:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/arthistory\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/118\/2024\/02\/UW-Mil-Pepper-as-Buddhist-priest-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"840\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ariana Huggett\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ariana Huggett\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/arthistory\\\/robo-buddhism-kokoro-technology-and-spirituality-in-japan-today\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/arthistory\\\/robo-buddhism-kokoro-technology-and-spirituality-in-japan-today\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Ariana Huggett\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/arthistory\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0b18301067ac53ebb96e1da3678d2d65\"},\"headline\":\"Robo-Buddhism: Kokoro, Technology, and Spirituality in Japan Today\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-02-12T18:29:32+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-04-25T19:39:39+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/arthistory\\\/robo-buddhism-kokoro-technology-and-spirituality-in-japan-today\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":211,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/arthistory\\\/robo-buddhism-kokoro-technology-and-spirituality-in-japan-today\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/arthistory\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/118\\\/2024\\\/02\\\/UW-Mil-Pepper-as-Buddhist-priest-1.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Features\",\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/arthistory\\\/robo-buddhism-kokoro-technology-and-spirituality-in-japan-today\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/arthistory\\\/robo-buddhism-kokoro-technology-and-spirituality-in-japan-today\\\/\",\"name\":\"Robo-Buddhism: Kokoro, Technology, and Spirituality in Japan Today - Art History\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/arthistory\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/arthistory\\\/robo-buddhism-kokoro-technology-and-spirituality-in-japan-today\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/arthistory\\\/robo-buddhism-kokoro-technology-and-spirituality-in-japan-today\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/arthistory\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/118\\\/2024\\\/02\\\/UW-Mil-Pepper-as-Buddhist-priest-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-02-12T18:29:32+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-04-25T19:39:39+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/arthistory\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0b18301067ac53ebb96e1da3678d2d65\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/arthistory\\\/robo-buddhism-kokoro-technology-and-spirituality-in-japan-today\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/arthistory\\\/robo-buddhism-kokoro-technology-and-spirituality-in-japan-today\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/arthistory\\\/robo-buddhism-kokoro-technology-and-spirituality-in-japan-today\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/arthistory\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/118\\\/2024\\\/02\\\/UW-Mil-Pepper-as-Buddhist-priest-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/arthistory\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/118\\\/2024\\\/02\\\/UW-Mil-Pepper-as-Buddhist-priest-1.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":840,\"caption\":\"A humanoid robot dressed in Buddhist monk attire performs a ritual.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/arthistory\\\/robo-buddhism-kokoro-technology-and-spirituality-in-japan-today\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/arthistory\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Robo-Buddhism: Kokoro, Technology, and Spirituality in Japan Today\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/arthistory\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/arthistory\\\/\",\"name\":\"Art History\",\"description\":\"UW-Milwaukee\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/arthistory\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/arthistory\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0b18301067ac53ebb96e1da3678d2d65\",\"name\":\"Ariana Huggett\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/2a049443dc26a5f39c9d29a058b4c14acb17091025283e2fd8e2578fe8490e87?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/2a049443dc26a5f39c9d29a058b4c14acb17091025283e2fd8e2578fe8490e87?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/2a049443dc26a5f39c9d29a058b4c14acb17091025283e2fd8e2578fe8490e87?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Ariana Huggett\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Art History","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/arthistory\/robo-buddhism-kokoro-technology-and-spirituality-in-japan-today\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Robo-Buddhism: Kokoro, Technology, and Spirituality in Japan Today","og_description":"Public lecture by Dr. Jennifer Robertston, Professor emerita, Departments of Anthropology and Art History, Michigan State University Kokoro (\u5fc3) is widely and innovatively used in everyday parlance and figures in many Japanese idioms. Kokoro connotes intellectual, emotional, and spiritual states &hellip;","og_url":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/arthistory\/robo-buddhism-kokoro-technology-and-spirituality-in-japan-today\/","og_site_name":"Art History","article_published_time":"2024-02-12T18:29:32+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-04-25T19:39:39+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":840,"url":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/arthistory\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/118\/2024\/02\/UW-Mil-Pepper-as-Buddhist-priest-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Ariana Huggett","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Ariana Huggett","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/arthistory\/robo-buddhism-kokoro-technology-and-spirituality-in-japan-today\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/arthistory\/robo-buddhism-kokoro-technology-and-spirituality-in-japan-today\/"},"author":{"name":"Ariana Huggett","@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/arthistory\/#\/schema\/person\/0b18301067ac53ebb96e1da3678d2d65"},"headline":"Robo-Buddhism: Kokoro, Technology, and Spirituality in Japan Today","datePublished":"2024-02-12T18:29:32+00:00","dateModified":"2024-04-25T19:39:39+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/arthistory\/robo-buddhism-kokoro-technology-and-spirituality-in-japan-today\/"},"wordCount":211,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/arthistory\/robo-buddhism-kokoro-technology-and-spirituality-in-japan-today\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/arthistory\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/118\/2024\/02\/UW-Mil-Pepper-as-Buddhist-priest-1.jpg","articleSection":["Features","News"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/arthistory\/robo-buddhism-kokoro-technology-and-spirituality-in-japan-today\/","url":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/arthistory\/robo-buddhism-kokoro-technology-and-spirituality-in-japan-today\/","name":"Robo-Buddhism: Kokoro, Technology, and Spirituality in Japan Today - Art History","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/arthistory\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/arthistory\/robo-buddhism-kokoro-technology-and-spirituality-in-japan-today\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/arthistory\/robo-buddhism-kokoro-technology-and-spirituality-in-japan-today\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/arthistory\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/118\/2024\/02\/UW-Mil-Pepper-as-Buddhist-priest-1.jpg","datePublished":"2024-02-12T18:29:32+00:00","dateModified":"2024-04-25T19:39:39+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/arthistory\/#\/schema\/person\/0b18301067ac53ebb96e1da3678d2d65"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/arthistory\/robo-buddhism-kokoro-technology-and-spirituality-in-japan-today\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/uwm.edu\/arthistory\/robo-buddhism-kokoro-technology-and-spirituality-in-japan-today\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/arthistory\/robo-buddhism-kokoro-technology-and-spirituality-in-japan-today\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/arthistory\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/118\/2024\/02\/UW-Mil-Pepper-as-Buddhist-priest-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/arthistory\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/118\/2024\/02\/UW-Mil-Pepper-as-Buddhist-priest-1.jpg","width":1200,"height":840,"caption":"A humanoid robot dressed in Buddhist monk attire performs a ritual."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/arthistory\/robo-buddhism-kokoro-technology-and-spirituality-in-japan-today\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/arthistory\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Robo-Buddhism: Kokoro, Technology, and Spirituality in Japan Today"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/arthistory\/#website","url":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/arthistory\/","name":"Art History","description":"UW-Milwaukee","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/arthistory\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/arthistory\/#\/schema\/person\/0b18301067ac53ebb96e1da3678d2d65","name":"Ariana Huggett","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2a049443dc26a5f39c9d29a058b4c14acb17091025283e2fd8e2578fe8490e87?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2a049443dc26a5f39c9d29a058b4c14acb17091025283e2fd8e2578fe8490e87?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2a049443dc26a5f39c9d29a058b4c14acb17091025283e2fd8e2578fe8490e87?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Ariana Huggett"}}]}},"acf":[],"meta_fields":{"_edit_lock":["1714073844:9822"],"_edit_last":["9822"],"_thumbnail_id":["11922"],"event_start_date":["20240410"],"_event_start_date":["field_56e95f132a372"],"event_start_time":["4pm"],"_event_start_time":["field_56e9942e181df"],"event_end_date":[""],"_event_end_date":["field_56e9943e181e0"],"event_end_time":[""],"_event_end_time":["field_56e9945b181e1"],"event_location":["Lubar S151"],"_event_location":["field_56e9946e181e2"],"_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":[""],"_yoast_wpseo_content_score":["30"],"_yoast_wpseo_focuskeywords":["[]"],"_yoast_wpseo_keywordsynonyms":["[\"\"]"],"_yoast_wpseo_estimated-reading-time-minutes":["2"],"_yoast_wpseo_wordproof_timestamp":[""],"_yoast_indexnow_last_ping":["1714073979"],"_uwm_wg_content_review_log":["a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:11:\"reviewer_id\";i:0;s:6:\"status\";s:5:\"reset\";s:10:\"entry_date\";s:19:\"2026-03-01 02:09:29\";s:16:\"priority_content\";s:0:\"\";s:4:\"note\";s:43:\"Content review reset at start of new cycle.\";}}"]},"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-23 19:44:35","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/arthistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11921","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/arthistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/arthistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/arthistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9822"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/arthistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11921"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/arthistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11921\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11924,"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/arthistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11921\/revisions\/11924"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/arthistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11922"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/arthistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11921"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/arthistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11921"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/arthistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11921"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}