Of a separate self, I would say, while we are taught, that in reality we are interwoven.
And there are some that realise this (the eightfold path is a good example, loss of ego, but gain of insight of being part of the whole).
As such reincarnation simply is another state to work out former mistakes, under which we all suffer, thus it has to be cleared, and someone takes the job.
Seen as a worldwide net, some buddhists even found representants of this knowledge in other also western countries.
Its an inner red thread that tells you, where to go. I was often wondering, how these informations work, but it can be compaired with hyperlinks in the brains after having collected even unconscious messages, but its not unknown by myself in all these years, as for the surprising "appoinments" with "remarkable" people. No watch nor plan could be as perfect as this, as it always showed afterwards. and if yoou trust this, your life is full of wonderfull surprises. We would say, "God" told us, but its not just our "god", its all around the globe. A big network, that is faster than any manmade plan.
You just have to relax and "let it be". Its equal to what we artists say, "it paints by itself".
Native indians have a pretty similar way of thinking about the globe as a whole interwoven organism and need to clock to be "in time" to be somewhere originally, etc.
BTW, its interesting, that the invention of the fixed times in Japan is pretty young, to my knowledge, after the WW2 even.
Thus people have an organic time as much as an intuitive knowledge ("inner red line").
And if you are aware of the similarities in different cultures, you may well get the signs of something or someone reincarnated, with other words, continuing such a "red thread", which would be more correct.
Not that I via science would be able to explain this, but it clearly works.
I had many such things myself during my travellings.
