往生

1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning

• Structure: 往生 is read as おうじょう and is a noun and する verb for a peaceful religious passing or, idiomatically, being left in great difficulty.
• Basic usage: A religious wish appears in 安らかな往生を願う, while trouble appears in 故障で往生する.

2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions

• Two distant senses
  • One is an elevated religious sense of death or rebirth; the other says that an unexpected problem left someone completely stuck.
• Difference from 死亡
  • 死亡 reports death objectively, while the first sense of 往生 frames it as a peaceful or religious passing.