Flashy Kinkakuji Temple, sober Ginkakuji Temple（派手な金閣寺、地味な銀閣寺）
The entire surface of Kinkakuji Temple in Kyoto is covered with gold which is “Kin” in Japanese. On the other hand, there is also Ginkakuji. “Gin” is silver in Japanese. People would think that the whole surface was covered with…
New Zen Buddhism = Manpukuji Temple of Obaku Buddhism (Uji City, Kyoto Prefecture)新しい禅宗＝黄檗宗の萬福寺（京都府宇治市）
Of the Buddhist denominations that emphasize zazen in Japan, the Rinzai sect and the Soto sect have existed since the 13th century, while the Obaku sect is a new Buddhist sect that was opened in the 17th century with Chinese…
Mt. Hiei was a university for studying Buddhism (比叡山は仏教を学ぶ大学だった)
Mt. Hiei is a mountain that straddles Kyoto City in Kyoto Prefecture and Otsu City in Shiga Prefecture. Many people in Kyoto, which used to be the capital city of Japan, all think that Mt. Hiei is a mountain of…
The humorous Japanese name for Pheropsophus jessoensis which is a ground beetle species
The Japanese name for Pheropsophus jessoensis is “Miidera ground beetle”. The scientific name Jezo means Hokkaido, but in Japan it is a beetle species that is widely distributed except for the southern half of the Nansei Islands. It also lives…
An unconventional Zen Priest named Sojun Ikkyu(型破りな禅僧、一休宗純)
Sojun Ikkyu was a Zen priest who lived mainly in the 15th century. He is a very famous person among modern Japanese people, because, in the 1980s, there was an anime program on TV. This wise boy at a temple,…
Secret Buddha statues (秘仏)
There are statues in Buddhist temples, and people pray in front of them. These are the center of faith. Usually, there are many Buddha statues in a temple. One of them is designated as the principal statue (本尊). However, sometimes…
Maxim in front of the temple (2)
“Don’t think more about your worries.” No one can do everything which they want to do in their life. There are always setbacks in various situations. Efforts may or may not be able to overcome it. Worries are based on…
How to get unlimited memory
When I was a student, I was thinking so before the exam. I heard that is possible by the Kokuzo-bosatsu (Akasagarbha) method. You need to sing the mantra “Namo Ākāśagarbhāya, Oṃ ali kalmali mauli svāhā” for 10,000 times a day…
Osaka is older than Kyoto in the history of the cities
The Kansai region of Japan has ancient cities such as Kyoto and Nara, where are ancient temples and shrines suitable for sightseeing. There are many misunderstandings by foreigners and even local people, but the history of these cities is newer…
Ginkgo (1)
In Japan, this tree is often planted anywhere including urban parks. The tree of Tokyo is this. We can see a similar design at the Metropolitan traffic. I used to think it was a ginkgo leaf. But I heard that…
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