The early Tokugawa period witnessed a transition toward the Zhu Xi school, also known as Shushigaku 朱熹学, of Neo-Confucianism, which served as the prevailing ideology under the Tokugawa Shogunate for the subsequent two hundred years of the Edo period. Among the early Edo scholars, there was a discourse on the optimal integration of Neo-Confucianism ideology into Japanese culture. This chapter explores the interplay between Tokugawa Neo-Confucianism and Buddhism concerning death and the associated rituals. It examines death and ritual from the perspective of Yangmingism, or Yōmeigaku 陽明学, to illuminate the criticisms leveled by Neo-Confucians of Buddhism. Given that these subjects were considered taboo in Shintoism, examining these topics may elucidate aspects of the arguments between Buddhism and Confucianism in the early Edo period. In particular, this chapter examines death and funeral rituals through the lens of Nakae Tōju and Kumazawa Banzan, the two prominent figures who approached Buddhism from the perspective of Neo-Confucianism, exploring its implications for themes such as death, life after death, and burial practices.