Book - Living and Dying in Zazen

I recently finished reading a book called Living and Dying in Zazen – Five Zen Masters of Modern Japan by Arthur Braverman. I am not a Buddhist. I am not that familiar with Buddhism and just wanted to learn a little about it. I have also read a little about Pure Land Buddhism, particularly the Jodo Shinshu or True Pure Land School.

This book is about the author who went to Japan to study Zen in the early 70’s practicing at a small temple called Antaiji in Kyoto. The five Zen teachers are Kodo Sawaki, Sodo Yokoyama, Kozan Kato, Motoko Ikebe and Kosho Uchiyama. The book talks a little about life at Antaiji which was an unusual Japanese temple in that it welcomed foreigners to practice and live there.

The book is an interesting read and gave some insight into Zen Buddhism and specifically zazen, the act of sitting in meditation. But what the book did the most was give the feeling wishing I could have met some of these Zen teachers, especially Uchiyama and Yokoyama. It is rare that I will read a book more than once but that is what I did with this book. After finishing the book I wanted to read about these individuals again and about their strong devotion particularly to zazen.

I won’t get into a full explanation of the book here but if you are at all interested in Zen Buddhism or just want to read about this aspect of Japan in the early 70s, then I highly recommend this book.

Old and New Japan

Here is an interesting picture I found from sushicam that shows old and new Japan. I agree with Sushi Jeff, maybe they are texting to each other.

About Nikko

My favorite place to visit in Japan is Nikko. It is one of the places I recommend every who visits Japan should try and get to.

My favorite part of Nikko are the Temples and Shrines. The most famous is the Toshogu Shrine (hence my blog web address). The Toshogu Shrine was built in 1617 as the mausoleum of the Tokugawa Ieyasu. Ieyasu was the most important Shogun of Japanese history as he was the first Shogun to completely unify the country. The Tokugawa family reigned for over 250 years, longer than the age of the United States.

The main shrine buildings were built by the third shogun, Tokugawa Iemitsu in 1636. The Yomeimon, probably the most famous work of architecture in Nikko, was built in 1636. It is the most elaborately decorated of the shrine buildings of Toshogu. The workmanship is amazing as witnessed in the decorative carvings and other designs.

Tokyo Disney

On a recent trip to Japan, I visited Tokyo Disney. I like Anaheim Disney and I wanted to see how Tokyo Disney compared. I went on a weekday because I wanted to avoid the crazy crowds I have heard of. However, even on the weekday non-holoday, the park was very crowded. How does it compare to Anaheim? Of course it is similar except for differences such as a much larger castle. Although the pedestrian areas of Tokyo Disney were more open which is good for crowds, I felt it was to much barren walkways. One of the things I like about Anaheim Disney are the nicely landscaped walkways and the landscaping in general seemded better at Anaheim Disney. Otherwise, I really liked Tokyo Disney. I would like to visit Disney Sea someday also.

Here are a few pictures from Tokyo Disney.







I did not know these band members had turned around until I saw the picture.

This picture below is from Otawara, Tochigi in front of the temple.

Ouchijuku, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan

Late last year I visited the historic little village called Ouchijuku which is south of Aizuwakamatsu in Fukushima Prefecture. The village is famous for the numerous traditional thatched buildings from the Edo period that line its main street. In the buildings are numerous little tourists shops and an old historic traditional restaurant.

Here I am sitting on the main street.

Along each side of the street, a little stone lined cold stream flowed and in it at various points were beer and other beverages cooling and ready for sale to tourists.

On the morning of the day I visited, then Prime Minister Koizumi visited. I am disapointed I missed him as I definately would have tried to introduce myself. Oh well. Here is a picture of the former Prime Minister visiting Ouchijuku on the day that I was there.

If you are traveling on the road through the mountains to Aizuwakamatsu, Ouchijuku is a really cool place to stop. Beware that it may be crowded on weekends or holidays. I don't remember the name of the restaurant but it is the only old traditional restaurant in the village and it was really great and the interior is incredible.

Yokohama, Japan

In 2004, I went to Yokohama for the day. It was the first time I had visited there. I stayed at the Pan Pacific Yokohama hotel. The hotel is located at the relatively new Minato Mirai development which includes a new train station and the tallest office building in Japan, the Landmark Tower. One mistake I made was traveling to Yokohama from Tokyo during evening rush hour. Everything you may have heard about passengers being packed like sardines on the trains and subways during rush hour in Japan is true.

The Minato Mirai area is really amazing. It surrounds the inner harbor of Yokohama. Here is a picture of me in front of a historic ship in the inner harbor right next to the Landmark Tower.









Here is a picture I took of the Landmark Tower. The tower has an observation deck but I did not have time to visit it.






Above the train station in the new Minato Mirai development is a shopping center which includes many good restaurants, coffee shops and other shops. It also links directly with the Pan Pacific Hotel. The hotel was amazing and the service was great. I felt bad when the petite female hotel employee carried our heavy bags to the room. I wanted to give her a tip but of course tipping is not done in Japan.

Here are some links for Minato Mirai and Yokohama.

http://www.minatomirai21.com/english/index.html
http://www.city.yokohama.jp/en/
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2156.html
http://www.welcome.city.yokohama.jp/eng/tourism/spot/spot1050.html