“Being with”: Support Networks during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

its networks and practices adapted to the challenges of the COVID‑19 pandemic. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork, it explores how the organisation's activities, rooted in Jōdō Shū teachings and informed by the ethos of "being with" and shien 支縁 (reciprocal support grounded in karmic bonds), combined material assistance with the cultivation of affective and relational ties. Pre‑existing micro‑ and macro‑level networks enabled a rapid response to emerging needs, yet the pandemic also exposed the vulnerabilities of volunteer‑driven initiatives. Long‑standing activities were suspended, and some volunteers, particularly Vietnamese workers and students stranded in Japan, became recipients of support. The article argues that Hitosaji no Kai illustrates both the possibilities and limitations of small‑scale, relational forms of Buddhist social engagement, highlighting how practices of presence, interdependence, and collaboration sustained community connections in a time of crisis.