IntroIn the episodic 2015 Japanese film ‘Midnight Diner’, one of the story threads involves somebody leaving the cremated remains behind in the diner. The regular customers and the diner owner […]
Japan Journal - Japanese Buddhism
Frying Pan Kuyō
Kuyō is not a word, it’s a culture and can only be understood that way. Westerners don’t understand what it really is. Never one specific thing or action, it’s so […]
Japanese Buddhism
My Private Oeshiki
Japanese Buddhist memorial services are festive events. Even though family members dress in funeral attire, the mood is never somber. Kids like it because they get to eat sweets before […]
Japan Journal - Japanese Buddhism
Return of The Dragon
It was a very tough winter for the priests working at Keishin-in temple on the top of Shichimensan. There was so much heavy snow that it snapped the utility poles. […]
Japan Journal - Japanese Buddhism
Stolen Buddhas
The day after Christmas 2019, a priest noticed a broken temple door. Inside the hall one of the Buddhist altar statues, Many Treasures Buddha, was missing. The temple is deep […]
Japan Journal - Japanese Buddhism
Climbing Mt. Shichimen 2022
I had not been to Mt. Shichimen since golden week vacation 2020, during the very first COVID pandemic ‘state of emergency’. It was a surreal trip to say the least. […]