The 3 Dragon Gates of Tokyo Torii gates represent the border between the secular world and the sacred worlds of the Shinto religion. The gates act as a passageway into the sacred space of a shrine. It’s not uncommon for … Read More
The Komyoji Temple, part of the school of Jodo Shinshu Buddhism, dates back to the year 1212. Like many other temples, the Komyoji Temple suffered from the Great Kanto Earthquake (1923), which triggered a fire to the temple, which … Read More
Hand copying sutra is called “Shakyo” in Japanese. Sutra copying is the East Asian practice of hand-copying Buddhist sutras. You can accumulate merits by this act of word-for-word sutra transcription. Other meritorious practices included the memorization and recitation of sutras. … Read More
This year, the 42nd G7 summit was held on May 26-27. The summit was held in the Mie Prefecture of Japan and during the summit, Shinzo Abe, Barack Obama, Justin Trudeau, François Hollande, Angela Merkel, Matteo Renzi, David Cameron … Read More
Togoshi Hachiman Shrine is located in Tokyo, Japan at the end of the Togoshiginza shopping street. There are a lot of attractive stores so there are always crowds of people, most likely locals. Every store has a unique personality and … Read More
On November 10th, 1272, the 8th year of the Bun-ei Era, Shiro Sakondaifu Hojo gave Tokichiyo, his fifth son, power over several vassals. He told him to stay at Hebi-kubo (an area near Shinagawa-ku now) and told him to … Read More
Mabashi Inari Shrine is located in the middle of the JR Chuo Line between Koenji Station and Asagaya Station. People claim that this shrine was founded in the Kamakura era, however it is not known for sure. The Mabashi Inari … Read More
Have you ever heard of the town of Koenji in Japan? If so, what does it bring to mind? If you were to ask Japanese people, Koenji would be described as a small town with many used clothing stores, secondhand … Read More
The world has been taken by storm by one of Japan’s most famous franchises, Pokemon. In several countries all over the planet, people of all ages are running around with their smartphones open attempting to catch wild Pokemon on their … Read More
When visiting a temple or shrine, you may notice a wooden box in front of the main hall. This is an offertory box, a box in which you can drop an offering to the deities of that temple or shrine. … Read More
The main belief system of the Japanese people is called Shintoism. Shinto is more than a religious faith. It is an amalgam of attitudes, ideas, and ways of doing things that through two millenniums have become an integral part of … Read More
If you plan on visiting many temples and shrines in Japan, I recommend purchasing a goshuin first. The literal translation of ‘goshuin’ is “the honorable red stamp notebook.” For further explanation, the goshuin is a notebook made for collecting … Read More