6 The Sendai star festival The Star Festival is derived from the legend of Vega and Altair. This princess and prince had much fun being together and stop working hard on their royal duties. The king was angered by this … Read More
The word of festival in Japanese is “Matsuri”. The purpose of having traditional events and local events is to create community revitalization. It looks like there are many different kinds of festivals in Japan, however, they all originally derive from … Read More
Japan is unique because it respects traditional culture, yet it lets new customs develop as well. Therefore, you find new technology and traditional values coexist. This coexistence makes Japan special for foreign visitors. In the following, we are going to … Read More
Dokuonji is a temple that was constructed nearly 400 years ago and holds a rich history. Regardless of nationality or religion, anyone is welcome to join monthly meditation and Sutra writings at Dokuonji. Once a year, Dokuonji hosts a temple … Read More
There are many factors that go along with becoming a Buddhist monk. It is generally understood that monks live drastically different lifestyles than most people, however, people rarely consider their diets. Along with the other unique aspects of their lives, … Read More
Kitakyushu is close to many Asian countries, and because it is conveniently located on the strait connecting Tokyo and Shanghai, it has been blessed with prosperity as a gateway to Asia and as an industrial base in Japan. Have you … Read More
Every local shrine in Japan is responsible for celebrating its own deity and holding its own festivals. Because of this responsibility, and because there are so many shrines in Japan, there are countless numbers of festivals (called matsuri … Read More
When you think of temples and shrines in Japan, you might imagine Senso-ji Temple in Asakusa or Meiji Shrine in Harajuku, both famous sightseeing spots in Tokyo. However, there are many more shrines and temples you should visit in Japan. … Read More
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