@inproceedings{oai:kokubunken.repo.nii.ac.jp:00002653,
 author = {Ruppert, Brian O and RUPPERT, Brian O},
 book = {国際日本文学研究集会会議録, PROCEEDINGS OF INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON JAPANESE LITERATURE},
 issue = {25},
 month = {Mar},
 note = {pdf, The bodily relics of the historical Buddha were referred to as “Buddha-śarîra,” and constituted objects of Shaka veneration from India to Japan. Indeed, the terms “Shari” and “to” (reliquaries) appear as unique topics for consideration in Buddhist literature and other records. For example, the writing of Jâtaka, a genre of Buddhist literature seems to have occurred in direct connection with the rise of relic and reliquary worship. 
In Japan, from the eighth century on, the terms “Shari” and "tô" possessed particular literary senses. For example, Nihon shoki represents Shiba Tatto (Shime Tachito) as discovering Buddha relics, and describes him as having recognized their efficacious power. Insofar as the story is based on tales in Chinese Buddhist literature, it indicates the influence of the latter. In other words, continental East Asian literature represented the capacity of relics to fulfill the wishes of believers. Furthermore, the accounts concerning relics in Buddhist scriptures also influenced Japanese literature; works such as the Lotus Sutra and the Golden Light Scripture of Victorious Kings depict in detail the powers of relics as well as the activities of patron kings.
These scriptures, while impacting Japanese society, increasingly influenced Japanese literature in their descriptions of relics and reliquaries. Such works and the Japanese literature they influenced promised that if believers engage in giving (fuse) in the same fashion that Shaka did in his previous lives, they can through such mimesis attain great merit and, upon death, attain enlightenment or birth in the Pure Land. For example, Sanbô-ekotoba and Konjaku monogatari shû depict the self-sacrifice of Shaka in former lives as well as the building of reliquaries; such works thus draw on scriptural depictions of relics and describe Japanese activities of relic veneration such as the Shari-e at Hieizan. In this way, through understanding continental Buddhist literary representations of relics, we can evaluate the meaning of references to varied distributions, enshrinement, and veneration of relics in Japanese literature. We can thereby analyze the meanings accruing to relic references, and interpret the position (s) of relics in early medieval Japanese society.},
 pages = {67--75},
 publisher = {国文学研究資料館},
 title = {研究発表　中世日本文学における舎利信仰},
 year = {2002},
 yomi = {ルパート, ブライアン}
}