Comments on: Off to Japan tomorrow

By: Kendall

Kendall — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 00:09:05 +0000

Hope the trip is going good. Sounds like a lot of fun. I hope to visit again one day. Not sure what areas I would go to, but I’m sure I would enjoy it. I just hope my Japanese will be good enough to get me around.

By: Rory

Rory — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 03:21:53 +0000

Have a safe trip Doug!
what a great schedule, Zojo-Ji sigh, sounds fabulous. I’d love to go & bring back a ton of omamori for everyone:) And I will too.
have a wonderful time with your wife, little girl and relations, that’s what its all about…
Rory

By: Stephen

Stephen — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 09:15:49 +0000

Zojo-ji is beside Prince Hotel, and Shiba Park, at the base of Tokyo Tower. The land for Tokyo Tower was gifted to the country by Zojo-ji (because they couldn’t afford the land taxes anymore.) Behind Zojo-is the graves of half the Tokugawa Shogunate. The third floor Dojo is used for training sessions and Shakyo and the like, I don’t think it is ever locked.
It wouldn’t be much of a bother to ask and it wouldn’t take much of their time to show you an elevator, why not try.
Anyway, have fun with the family is most important.
Stephen (ウィズフォード法道）

By: Doug

Doug — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 04:31:49 +0000

Hi guys,

Stephen Do you think they’d just let anyone off the street go visit that part of the temple? Where is Zojoji anyway? If I can, I’ll definitely go.

Johnl I’ll send you an email once I get there. I won’t be that busy until the 2nd week when we’re off to Kyoto, but it would be nice to visit readers in the Tokyo area (if anyone else is there, let me know).

By: Stephen

Stephen — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 11:26:43 +0000

You mentioned Tokyo. If you visit Zojo-ji make sure you see the third floor Dojo, which probably means talking to someone and gaining permission. It is little known there is a room above the main Building (literally in the roof) which houses an Amida in a very rare hand positioning, and a Nehan-e comprised of the entire larger Sutra written in minature by St Yamazaki Bennei.
Anywy safe trip, and best wishes,
Stephen

By: johnl

johnl — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 09:45:28 +0000

Re: Sensoji

Here is a suggestion for those interested in the Lotus Sutra. The temple is having a shakyo campaign to help pay for the new roof of the main hall. The entire building is covered by a special structure–this seems to be a really big deal, costing lots of money. There is a helpful poster on display that explains the processes with diagrams, and there is one in English! Anyway, one way you can participate is to buy a shakyo set at the temple desk. It costs 500 yen. It is the verse part and final section of chapter 25 of the Lotus Sutra–this chapter is sometimes referred to as the Kannon Sutra. It is the very easy kind of shakyo, where it is printed in faint gray, and all you do is write over to darken it. It is 600 some-odd characters. It took me about six hours or so to do it. Then, you can send it back to the temple by mail. They will send you a card impressed with the temple chops, acknowledging your contribution. I think the copies are being stored in a special sutra library. You get sutra study and kanji writing practice at the same time! What a deal!

By: johnl

johnl — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 09:28:19 +0000

Hi Doug! Sounds like you will have a great trip. If you need to contact me for any reason in Japan, look me up as John Tsuzumi in Facebook. I suppose your dance card is pretty full, but feel free to contact me if the occasion warrants.

Also, for reference of other readers, here is the English web page of Tsukiji Hongwanji:
http://www.tsukijihongwanji.jp/tsukiji/index_e.html