http://www.flickr.com/photos/xendaths/sets/72157635210028362/

I ran about Kamakura the other Day. The primary target was Kaikōzan Jishōin Hase-dera. This temple complex honors the Eleven Headed Kannon, Jizo, and Benzaiten.

On the way back I stopped at the small temple Shū Genji, dedicated to the Nichiren sect. A follower committed suicide to ( Read more... )

Lawmakers Find Ways to Draw Young Supporters Who Favor a More Assertive Foreign Policy; 'We've Been Too Complacent'.

By YUKA HAYASHI (Updated August 14, 2012, 11:15 p.m. ET)

TOKYO-Nationalist politicians and activists are wielding new clout in Japan, straining the country's ties with China and South Korea, and creating headaches for policy makers ( Read more... )

3. Enlightenment and Baking Bread

In Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind we read, “Buddha was not interested in metaphysical theories of existence. He was more concerned about how he himself existed in this moment. . . . How we become enlightened was his main interest. . . . In order to find out how dough became perfect bread, he made it over and over again, ( Read more... )

I just realized that I never bothered to post these. On the 21st of August, I rode the JR line from Yokosuka through Kamakura and exited at Ofuna in Yokohama. Actually, I got on the wrong train and rode to the end of the line (just a few stops), then I got on the correct train and rode through Kamakura to Ofuna station.

Rather than risk missing my ( Read more... )

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Things to Buy

Essential Mundi Compilation: "Mechanics of Silence"
http://www.essentiamundi.com/mos/?sms_ss=facebook&at_xt=4dab13594f2f06c4%2C0
This digital album is a collection of Ambient/Dark Ambient works from artists on the Essential Mundi label. All profits go to Red Cross Japan. (Default bitrate is 192kbs, but others are available on request).

( Read more... )

Memorial for Earthquake & Tsunami Victims

The March 11 earthquake, tsunami and subsequent hardships faced by people in Japan have been devastating. To serve the community, the Portland Japanese Garden has erected a “Wish Arbor” for people to visit, pray and reflect. Visitors are encouraged to write wishes and condolences for victims of the disasters ( Read more... )

[The following is the paper I submitted for my History of Japan and China class (HST 106) last term. It is another article analysis paper]

Introduction

“Tarrying with the Negative: Aesthetic Vision in Murasaki and Mishima” by John R. Wallace compares and contrasts Murasaki Shikibu, who wrote Genji Monogatori, and Mishima Yukio, the author of ( Read more... )

Article Analysis Paper
HST 199K: History of Japan and Korea
Winter 2011

In the article, “The Swan-Maiden Revisited: Religious Significance of 'Divine-Wife' Folktales with Special Reference to Japan,” Alan L. Miller entreats us to reconsider the tale of the Swan Maiden. This tale, the motif of which can be found in both the East and the West, revolves ( Read more... )