Centering upon Fushidansekkyo, before it is utterly gone
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Fushidansekkyo-theme Pages
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Sunlight

The subject is not always associated with Fushidansekkyo, but it is a relevant subject to a topic on a page of www.hdever.com. Please note that the events (religious services, university extension lectures, symposiums, performances and so forth) to be mentioned on this page shall be domestic events with few exceptions, and the information on them might not be useful to those who are not in Japan (those who could not come to Japan and participate in them).

News

"News" are my personal remarks on what I from time to time think or feel about a certain subject.

Text Encoding ISO-8859-1

I will from time to time move my personal remarks onto the "Previous News Archive" page, in the chronological order, the oldest first.


Mankaku-ji Missionary Assembly
(Rev. Kenjun Hirooka's Mankaku Temple)

On the 11th of June, 2008

A Missionary Assembly is to be held at the Mankaku Temple (Hirooka, Monzenmachi, Fugeshi-gun, Ishikawa Prefecture 927-2174 Japan), of which resident priest is Rev. Kenjun Hirooka who is said to be "the greatest Fushidansekkyo preacher of the day."

April 13, 2008 Hitomi

A New World of Fushidansekkyo
("Rev. Yoshino Sobue's Fushidansekkyo")

A preaching only Rev. Yoshino would be capable of

Rev. Yoshino Sobue is a sole successor of the late Rev. Shonen Sobue. With the same mind and heart as he had, she looks straight at "Preaching the teachings" and "Saving people." In this respect, Rev. Shonen and Rev. Yoshino must be one all the way along. In terms of being female (or, that which is specific to Rev. Yoshino), however, Rev. Yoshino will pave a new path, and, in that sense, I hope and believe that Rev. Yoshino Sobue will someday be a "preacher" who is able to outshine Rev. Shonen Sobue.

March 31, 2008 Hitomi

"Wa-gaku you" at the Asian Culture Center

Wednesday 23rd April, 2008

I thank to the "Japan Asia Fine Arts Association" for the letter accompanied by a program announcement on April's presentation by "Wa-gaku you."

Japanese traditional performing arts experience will be presented by "Wa-gaku you" at the Asian Culture Center of Japan Asia Fine Arts Association in Ginza, Tokyo at 19:30 on the 23rd of April, 2008. As mentioned in "Japan Asia Fine Arts Association introduces 'tangible and internalizingly sentient' works" last November, "Wa-gaku you" is a group formed by Japan's classical dancers and traditional musicians with the hope that "Japanese children who will lead the next would be able to cultivate their pride in their country and rich spirit through their actual experience with the beauty of Japanese traditional culture."

This forthcoming presentation by "Wa-gaku you" at the Asian Culture Center is a prior booking essential, fee-paid event with drinks (All proceeds will be used as the "Asian Children's Exchange Foundation" organized by NPO Japan Asia Fine Arts Association).
For a reservation and an inquiry, please contact Japan Asia Fine Arts Association.
Japan Asia Fine Arts Association official Web page Specified Nonprofit Organization Japan Asia Fine Arts Association [Japanese]
URL: http://www.j-asia.jp/

March 28, 2008 Hitomi
Asian Culture Center of Japan Asia Fine Arts Association
Address: Ginza Sanbankan II Building 8F, 3-11-11 Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-0061 Japan
The nearest stations are Ginza Station (Exit A12) on Subway Ginza Line and Higashi-Ginza Station (Exit A7 and A8) on Subway Asakusa Line and Higashi-Ginza Station (Exit 3) on Subway Hibiya Line. Ginza Sanbankan II Building is on Matsuya Dori [Matsuya Street].
Performers: Hanayagi Kihi (classical Japanese dance), Toon Kaitsu Shino (nagauta [ballads sung to samisen accompaniment, sometimes with other instruments, which originally developed out of elements of folk music and Noh for use in Kabuki in eighteenth-century Edo], uta [song]), Tosha Akane (hayashikata [a musical accompanist]), Toon Ito Kyoko (nagauta, samisen [a three-stringed musical instrument somewhat similar in shape to a banjo]), and Sasaki Chikano (koto [a zither-like Japanese musical instrument about 180 centimeters long and 30 centimeters wide with thirteen strings, played horizontally by a player who is seated on the floor and who is wearing plectrums on the fingers of the right hand]).

Zeami's "Commensuration and Realization (Soo Joju)" theory

The "flower"

Furthermore, nothing succeeds without corresponding.
(From Zeami, Toyoichiro Nogami and Minoru Nishio nns., Fushikaden [Japan: Iwanami Bunko, Thirty-ninth Printing, 1989], p. 82.)

It is not necessarily the case that when a great Noh protagonist presents an impressive play, the "flower" comes to emerge and stir. As all are realized by the correlation of commensuration, so Noh is consummated by it. Zeami sets forth a theory that the true "flower" can only bloom in Noh ("realization") if the Noh perfectly corresponds to the "viewer" who takes it in and responds to it, the "place" where it is performed, etc. Being the expressioner with respect to one another, while having sufficient ability both as the expressioner and the expression reader, is what makes the "flower" emerge and stir.

Well, this spring I have begun to ask myself if I am receptive enough for corresponding.

March 21, 2008 Hitomi
Note: The notion of the "flower" (hana) of Zeami, who declares "In this path, the life of Noh is nothing other than the flower" (Ibid., p. 46), can be divided into three major types as follows.
  1. The idea of the flower as the "strategy"
  2. The idea of the flower as the "subtle and profound beauty"
  3. The idea of the flower as the "marvelous flower" = the "flower of a state of non-attachment"
Needless to say, these three types all assume their distinctive characters and are the basis for categorizing Zeami's theory books on the art of Noh in chronological order. It is, however, pointed out by Dr. Ryoen Minamoto that while differing from one another, each has a part that includes a different other or preserves a predecessor in it. I quote from Dr. Minamoto's "Zeami no Nogakuron niokeru Shukyo to Geijutsu: Zen tono Kakawari wo Chushin toshite" [Religion and Art in Zeami's Noh Theory: With a central focus on its relation to Zen].
(quote/tr.) ...though different in character from one another, his books of tradition being entitled "the Flower" over the three consecutive phases, it is safe to say that "In this path, the life of Noh is nothing other than the flower" as he says in Fushikaden and he spent his life pursuing "the true flower" (Fushikaden). Even though "the flower as the strategy" became "the flower as the subtle and profound beauty," and then it became "the flower as the marvelous flower," there was still that with which all the three were permeated, and we ought to consider that the flower did not change form as a result of a purely theoretical pursuit, but it transformed itself in the process of solving practical challenges that he faced at different times. (end quote/tr.)
Ryoen Minamoto, "Zeami no Nogakuron niokeru Shukyo to Geijutsu: Zen tono Kakawari wo Chushin toshite," Kikan Nihon Shisoshi [Nihon Shisoshi Quarterly], No. 52 (Japan: Perikan Sha, 1998), p. 49.

The Muto Collection of Preaching Scripts (the February 6, 2008 edition)

My cordial gratitude

I would like to express my deepest appreciation to the Reverend Gihaku Fugoshi. Having been given "The Kokyu (Yukihisa) Muto Collection of Preaching Scripts" DVD in six volumes (the February 6, 2008 edition), my heart is overwhelmed with gratitude. The Rev. Muto's collected digital photographic data of existing preaching scripts in temples around Japan have immeasurable value and bear significance for the study of Fushidansekkyo and researchers in that field. I cannot thank Rev. Fugoshi enough for providing me with the precious data.

For the conservation of preaching scripts in danger of disappearing, the late Reverend Kokyu (Yukihisa) Muto had started taking digital photos of remaining preaching scripts, one sheet by one sheet, whenever he found them at the temples which he visited on his missionary tours or he heard of the existence of them. Rev. Muto collected 221 copies (books) of existing preaching scripts by means of photorecording before his passing. I shall never cease to feel strong gratitude and great respect for Rev. Muto.

February 28, 2008 Hitomi
Note: According to Rev. Gihaku Fugoshi, Rev. Muto's personal computer was left in his study, in which the collected data of preaching scripts were stored. Having seen the large amounts of collected data of Rev. Muto, Fushidansekkyo Kenkyu Kai considered that they should not be buried, and, with permission of the bereaved, Rev. Miyoko Muto (Rev. Muto's wife) and Professor Kazuhisa Matsuba at Meijo University (Rev. Muto's brother by blood), Fushidansekkyo Kenkyu Kai has named them as a whole "The Muto Collection," and has succeeded them as the ongoing project of which objective is to find any yet-to-be-discovered preaching scripts and collect remaining preaching scripts which are not yet recorded photographically.
cf. Fushidansekkyo, the first issue of the journal of Fushidansekkyo Kenkyu Kai (Japan: Hojodo Shuppan, 2008). The list of the Muto Collection (515 preaching scripts of which names have been identified and 221 preaching scripts which have already been photo-recorded as mentioned above) was published in this first issue.

Rev. Keiko Washizaka, Propagator of Shin Buddhist teachings

Best wishes for her continued success

I wish Rev. Keiko Washizaka, Resident Priest of Ganjo Temple (Nakatado County in Kagawa Prefecture), the best of success in her missionary work.

February 28, 2008 Hitomi

My gratitude to Mr. Jeremiah Morris

Sincerely

I would like to extend my gratitude to Mr. Jeremiah Morris from Japan.

Mr. Jeremiah Morris is a great person, who is noted for his WHPress fonts, programs, and other creative endeavors, including the software titled "AppearanceHopper." I am grateful to him for his kindness and generosity.

February 21, 2008 Hitomi

Whenever hearing the Koza of Rev. Takakazu Hazuka

I learn a lot

Every time I hear Rev. Hazuka throwing light on "Preaching," I am impressed by his thought-provoking ideas.

The other day, Rev. Takakazu Hazuka exposited the "form" aspect of spoken language (the significance of telling words to a tune, the differences between the written words and the uttered words, the relation between preaching and Japan's traditional narrative arts, etc) at the Renko Temple. And this passing Wednesday, the 6th of February, Rev. Hazuka extended the exposition one step further, and got to the nub of the issue on "Sound" and "Rhythm," that is, the elements which played a considerable role in the conveyance of, as it were, an "unspoken" religious idea and human pathos and emotions, with concrete examples (raising the key of "the second [second-syllable] sound," etc) and profoundly interesting cases (a "rhythm" that gives Japanese a feeling of exaltation, resemblances between such rhythms, etc), at the Zentoku Temple in Gifu Prefecture. I was impressed with those which were set forth by Rev. Hazuka on the 6th of February, and I still ponder them after returning to Tokyo.

February 8, 2008 Hitomi

A female preacher is going to ascend the pulpit

On February 27, 2008 at Monpo Kaikan
of the Hongwanji in Kyoto

On February 27th, a female preacher is going to ascend the pulpit (called "Koza") for the first time in Japan, though that will be realized in an "unofficial" form in a certain sense, specifically, in the form of an exercise during the "Fushidansekkyo Preacher Development Seminar," which will be held from February 26th through the 28th at Monpo Kaikan [Monpo Hall] of the Hongwanji (Nishi Hongwanji) in Kyoto. And, what is more, the female preacher will be Rev. Yoshino Sobue, a granddaughter of the late Reverend Shonen Sobue who has still been called "Japan's greatest preacher." I cannot help but be moved.

January 21, 2008 Hitomi
A postscript: According to a daily sheet that I have received, the lecturers and advisers and staff members of the "Fushidansekkyo Preacher Development Seminar" are distinguished persons of religion (Shin Buddhism) and academic eminences in their fields.
Lecturers Advisers Staff members Note: the "Fushidansekkyo Preacher Development Seminar" is for Fushidansekkyo Kenkyu Kai Full Members who are also Shin Buddhism Kyoshis (who have received Kyoshi Ordination [Kyoshi Certification] in Shin Buddhism).

Rev. Yoshino Sobue's "Peace Exhibition"

March, 2008 at Higashi Betsuin

The findings and research achievements of Rev. Yoshino Sobue is going to be presented as an exhibition "Heiwa Ten [Peace Exhibition]" by displaying them in an easy-to-understand and viewer-friendly way. The "Heiwa Ten" will be held at Higashi Betsuin (Shinshu Otani-ha Nagoya Betsuin) in March, 2008 [from March 18th (17th) to March 23rd (24th)].

January 13, 2008 Hitomi
Ohigashi Net (Ohigashi Net | Shinshu Otani-ha Nagoya Betsuin (Higashi Betsuin) | Nagoya Kyoku [Nagoya Parish] | Kyoke Center [Cultivation Center]) Web site's year-long schedule of events "Nenkan Gyoji Annai" [Japanese]
URL: http://www.ohigashi.net/gyouji_nenkan.html
As of 18:00, January 13, 2008 in JST.

By clicking on the link "Zen-sensogiseisha Tsuito Hoyo • Kinen Koen [Memorial Buddhist Services For All Those Who Died In Wartime • Memorial Lectures]" in the "March" table row of their year-long schedule of events, you will jump to the place where a separate description of events starts. The dates of "Heiwa Ten" is written with the dates of "Zen-sensogiseisha Tsuito Hoyo • Kinen Koen" and their informations. (January 13, 2008)

Higashi Betsuin (Shinshu Otani-ha Nagoya Betsuin) Address: 2-8-55 Tachibana, Naka-ku, Nagoya-shi 460-0016 Japan
About 3 minutes walk from Exit 4 of Higashi Betsuin Station on Subway Meijo Line.
Ohigashi Net Web site's Access Map to Higashi Betsuin [Japanese]
URL: http://www.ohigashi.net/hall/kaikan_access.html

"The Sincerity of Kobayashi Hideo (2): Kobayashi Hideo and Aoyama Jiro"

The second installment of
Mr. Shuichi Ochi's serial essay

I thank to Mr. Shuichi Ochi for the February 2008 issue of RINRI (RINRI Institute of Ethics, journal sequential serial number 661) that includes Mr. Ochi's "The Sincerity of Kobayashi Hideo (2): Kobayashi Hideo and Aoyama Jiro," the very essay that I became eager to read soon after I had finished reading his first installment "The Sincerity of Kobayashi Hideo (1): Kobayashi Hideo and Nakahara Chuya." I will read it and ruminate on what Mr. Ochi has written during these Japanese consecutive holidays.

January 12, 2008 Hitomi

Mr. Kenji Komatsu's "sound"

His solo work

Mr. Kenji Komatsu has started performing solo.

January 3, 2008 Hitomi

A Web site of Rev. Hiroshi Doi
(Japan Evangelical Lutheran Church)

"Japan Evangelical Lutheran
Kouzouji Church"

Rev. Hiroshi Doi has set up a Web site.

Rev. Doi's Web site "Japan Evangelical Lutheran Kouzouji Church" [Japanese]
URL: http://plaza.rakuten.co.jp/jelckouzouji

January 2, 2008 Hitomi

On www.hdever.com, there is a page that includes Rev. Hiroshi Doi's Japanese article "Bultmann's Interpretation of Miracle," which Rev. Doi added new sentences to his paper that he had presented at the meeting of Nihon Shukyo Gakkai (The Japanese Association for Religious Studies) for reading research papers at Nanzan University in September, 1999.
The Japanese article of Rev. Hiroshi Doi, "Bultmann's Interpretation of Miracle" [Japanese]
URL: http://www.hdever.com/revhiroshidoibultmann.html


2008

Matsunouchi (Matsu no Uchi) - During the period of displaying a pair of auspicious pine and bamboo decorations (Kadomatsu) placed in front of a house and sacred straw festoons with various auspicious symbols attached to it (Shime-kazari) or simplified sacred straw wreaths (Wa-kazari) hung over entrances or household alters; refers, commonly, to the first seven days of the New Year in the Kanto region and the first fifteen days in the Kansai region.
Additionally, it is avoided to put up New Year's decorations on December 29th and on December 31st. So it is desirable to set up them on and before December 28th, as far as the tradition goes, though we should not be superstitious.
The 29th - A popularly held belief among people is that the sound of "9" of "the 29th," "Ku" of "nijyu-ku nichi" in Japanese, is linked to the word "Ku" meaning "Suffering, Pain, and Affliction," and setting up the decorations on the day is likened to raising (conjuring) up afflictions. The 31st - It is said that a single day is not a sufficient preparation period for welcoming the god of the cycle of the year toward the resurgence of life, Toshigami , who combines the characteristics of the grain spirit, or rather, the rice spirit in rice-growing regions, and the ancestor spirit — there is a strong suggestion that the traditional New Year events might form a counterpart to the Bon festival in July or August, and "ichiya kazari (overnight decoration, one night decoration)," or hasty one-day preparation, is an insincere and irreverent thing to do. People used to start preparing for ushering in the god on December 13th in many rural areas. It is also said that "ichiya kazari" is usually done on the occasion of the funeral service, and is not for the auspicious occasion. (In this context, "ichiya kazari" is used in referring to the practice of placing decorations on the eve of an occasion or to the decorations placed only for a single night before the start of the occasion.)
The duration and period of the display of the New Year's decorations differ. But it is often the case that people leave them up either until January 7th (the night of January 6th to 7th) or January 15th (Ko-shogatsu, New Year's Day according to the luni-solar calendar [January 15th in the solar calendar] or the period of the New Year according to the luni-solar calendar [January 14th to 16th in the solar calendar]).


Gatherings for hearing Fushidansekkyo sermons in 2008

The 6th of February, 2008

The First Anniversary of the Reverend Yukihisa Muto's Passing Fushidansekkyo Missionary Meeting
Date and Time: Wed February 6, 2008  13:00 - 15:00
Place: Jodo Shinshu Hongwanji ha Zentoku-ji (Zentoku Temple)
Preachers: Rev. Gihaku Fugoshi (Higashi Honganji ha)

Rev. Takakazu Hazuka (Otani ha)

Rev. Hojo Matsushima (Hongwanji ha)

For inquiries, please contact Zentoku-ji (151 Nanasaki, Mizuho-shi, Gifu-ken 501-0301 Japan).

December 16, 2007 Hitomi
Subjects: "In the light of Compassion: Four Photographs" by Rev. Gihaku Fugoshi, "The scene of Teraoka Heiemon from the Treasury of Loyal Retainers (the Forty-Seven Ronin)" by Rev. Takakazu Hazuka, and "An account of the origin of Rennyo Shonin's 'Torafu no Myogo' [the Name in brushstrokes with a tigroid appearance] by Rev. Hojo Matsushima.
The probably easiest way of getting to Zentoku Temple in Nanasaki, Mizuho City: go to JR Hozumi Station on JR Tokaido Main Line from JR Nagoya Station and then take a taxi to Zentoku Temple from JR Hozumi Station. (It will take about 30 minutes by rapid train from JR Nagoya Station to JR Hozumi Station on JR Tokaido Main Line.)

The 7th of February, 2008

Hongwanji Gifu Betsuin Fushidansekkyo Missionary Meeting
Date and Time: Thu February 6, 2008  13:50 - 16:00
Place: Hongwanji Gifu Betsuin
Preachers: Rev. Gihaku Fugoshi (Higashi Honganji ha)

Rev. Takakazu Hazuka (Otani ha)

Rev. Hojo Matsushima (Hongwanji ha)

For inquiries, please contact Gifu Betsuin (3-1 Nishinomachi, Gifu-shi, Gifu-ken 500-8882 Japan).

December 16, 2007 Hitomi
Subjects: "Record of protecting the Buddhist Dharma in the Meiji period —Myonyo Shonin [Nishi Hongwanji's twenty-first abbot] by Rev. Gihaku Fugoshi, "Katen Kyodai" [from the Korean legend of the caster of the bronze Divine Bell of King Seongdeok (the Emile Bell) and his sister and her little daughter] by Rev. Takakazu Hazuka, and "The origin of the ridge pole of Sanju Sangen Do" by Rev. Hojo Matsushima.
Hongwanji Gifu Betsuin
About 10 minutes drive by taxi from Meitetsu Gifu Station on Meitetsu Nagoya, Toyokawa Line (Meitetsu Nagoya Main Line) and from JR Gifu Station on JR Tokaido Main Line. About 5 minutes walk from the "Shimin Kaikan, Saibansho Mae [in front of the Civic Center and the Court]" bus stop of Gifu Bus.
Hongwanji Gifu Betsuin and Gifu Kyomusho Web site's Access Map to Hongwanji Gifu Betsuin [Japanese]
URL: http://www.hongwanji-gifubetsuin.jp/access.html
Meitetsu (Nagoya Railroad) Web site's English page "Train Stop information & Transportation" [English]
URL: http://www.meitetsu.co.jp/english/transport/index.html

The first part of Mr. Shuichi Ochi's serial essay

"The Sincerity of Kobayashi Hideo (1):
Kobayashi Hideo and Nakahara Chuya"

Without getting involved in an intellectual play, portraying a man who was bound to be "good" by focusing upon anecdotes of his fellowship with his friends is a primary objective of this serial in three installments.
("The Sincerity of Kobayashi Hideo (1)," RINRI, no. 660, p. 29, the top clumn)

I thank to Mr. Shuichi Ochi for the January 2008 issue of RINRI (RINRI Institute of Ethics, journal sequential serial number 660) that includes the first installment of Mr. Ochi's serial essay entitled "The Sincerity of Kobayashi Hideo." I will read it tonight.

On the night of December 15th, 2007 Hitomi
From the first of a three-part series on the sincerity of Kobayashi Hideo by Mr. Shuichi Ochi is heard the "breath" of a man who was bound to live true to himself in a "bad dream" (or in a "phase of the decree of fate" or "personality traits"). I do not think that I will be alone among readers in hearing the man breathing. And I think that we would become able to sense the "whole existence" of the man who tried to remain true and good by reading the second and third parts of Mr. Ochi's essay. Additionally, what interests me is how Mr. Ochi faces up to "Hideo Kobayashi the good man."
On the morning of December 16th, 2007 Hitomi

Rev. Yoshino Sobue's "Women in Wartime: Role and Coercion"

at Nagoya-shi Josei Kaikan

On Saturday the 12th of January, 2008, the Reverend Yoshino Sobue will give a lecture at Nagoya-shi Josei Kaikan in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture.

January 12th, 2008 13:30 - 16:15
Yoshino Sobue "Women in Wartime: Role and Coercion"
Nagoya-shi Josei Kaikan (Nagoya City Women's Center)
Organizer: Aichi (Nagoya) Branch of the Council for Education and Study on Human Sexuality

Aichi (Nagoya) Branch Office of the Council for Education and Study on Human Sexuality will accept nonmember persons interested in listening in. But a ¥ 500 JPY attendance fee is required.

December 14, 2007 Hitomi
Aichi (Nagoya) Branch Office of the Council for Education and Study on Human Sexuality Address: 4-94 Heiwagaoka, Meito-ku, Nagoya-shi 465-0097 Japan
Nagoya-shi Josei Kaikan (Nagoya City Women's Center) Address: 7-25 Ooicho, Naka-ku, Nagoya-shi 460-0015 Japan
About 3 minutes walk from Exit 1 of Higashi Betsuin Station on Subway Meijo Line.
Map to the Nagoya City Women's Center and Transportation Guide [English] by the Foreign Mothers' Group of Nagoya, Japan
URL: http://www.tcp-ip.or.jp/~lorna/mothers/map.html
The above linked page is for their Nagoya Foreign Mothers' Group Meeting held at the Nagoya City Women's Center and not for the lecture by Rev. Yoshino, but I have provided a link, for it is a nice Web page containing a good map to the Nagoya City Women's Center and transportation guide.
A postscript: Wonderful is the word for today's lecture "Women in Wartime: Role and Coercion" by Rev. Yoshino Sobue with a spark of greatness. (January 12, 2008 Hitomi)

"Na Mu A Mi Da Butsu under the mantle of night"

Nakano Vow's Bar

Last night, I went to a bar named "Vow's Bar" in Nakano, Tokyo for the first time, of which barkeeper is a Shin Buddhist priest. It appeared to be a "modern refuge temple" for many a Japanese weary soul, though different opinions have been expressed by the yea-sayers and the nay-sayers regarding Buddhist priest's barkeeping.

December 14, 2007 Hitomi
Vows Bar in Shinsaibashi, Osaka and Vowz Bar in Yotsuya, Tokyo and Vow's Bar in Nakano, Tokyo are sister bars by priests of Shin Buddhism.
According to "Declaration of Establishment of Vows Bar" by the creator of the first Buddhist priest's bar, Rev. Fumihiko Kiyoshi (Otani-ha), Resident Priest of Zuiko Temple, he set up Vows Bar in Osaka in December, 1992 as a place for all people to be able to meet horizontally without distinction as the Buddhist temple once was (Rev. Kiyoshi says that the Buddhist temple was originally open to all people and used to be a place for a whole variety of people to come in and talk).
Vow's Bar in Nakano is the third Buddhist priest's bar. Rev. Hikaru Kodama (Otani-ha) refers to "the providence of Buddha and a 'modern refuge temple' as salvation of sentient beings" and "a food and drink business as one's religious training (non-discrimination between, and the sameness of, sacred and secular in 'propagandism' and 'business')" and "a bar by a Buddhist priest as a Vihara movement in his local community" on the "about" page of Nakano Vow's Bar Web site.
Well, what do you think, for or against?
Shin Shu Otani-ha Zuiko-ji Home Page [Japanese] URL: http://www.oct.zaq.ne.jp/vows/
Nakano Vow's Bar Web site [Japanese] URL: http://vowsbar.web.fc2.com/index.html

Ms. Kayoko Akimoto was awarded a medal
by the Kingdom of Thailand

The Most Admirable Order of the Direkgunabhorn

I had word that Ms. Kayoko Akimoto, Thai dancer, President of the specified nonprofit organization "Japan Asia Fine Arts Association," was awarded a medal of the Royal Decoration of the Commander (Fourth Class) of the Most Admirable Order of the Direkgunabhorn by the Kingdom of Thailand. I congratulate Ms. Kayoko Akimoto most sincerely on the signal honor.

December 11, 2007 Hitomi
Ms. Kayoko Akimoto is the first foreign (non-Thailander) dancer certified and recognized as a Thai dancer by the Fine Arts Department of the Kingdom of Thailand and the Royal Academy of Dance Thailand. Ms. Akimoto received the above-mentioned medal in the Presenting of Royal Decorations Ceremony organized by the Royal Thai Embassy at Imperial Hotel in Tokyo on the 5th of December, 2007.

Rev. Yoshino Sobue's lecture on the 8th of December, 2007

at Taketoyo Central Community Center

On Saturday the 8th of December, 2007, the Reverend Yoshino Sobue will give a lecture at the auditorium of Taketoyo Central Community Center in Taketoyo-cho, Aichi Prefecture.

Japan's up-and-coming female Shin Buddhist priest, Rev. Yoshino Sobue, is going to address the issue that is somberly intertwined with Japan's past. The title for her lecture is "Women, children, and religion during the war time."

Also, she will deliver the speech at Nagoya Branch of the Council for Education and Study on Human Sexuality on the 12th of January, 2008.

November 22, 2007 Hitomi
I hear from Rev. Yoshino that on the day, the event will start at 14:00 and her lecture "Women, children, and religion during the war time" will begin around 15:00 after a musical performance (including the playing of ocarina). Rev. Yoshino's lecture is open to anyone.
Takutoyo Chuo Kominkan (Taketoyo Central Community Center)
Address: 20-1 Yamanokami, Takutoyo-cho, Chita-gun, Aichi-ken 470-2336 Japan

Japan Asia Fine Arts Association introduces
"tangible and internalizingly sentient" works

Thursday 29th November, 2007

I thank to Mr. Shingo Shoji, General Secretary of the specified nonprofit organization "Japan Asia Fine Arts Association," Director of Asian Culture Center of Japan Asia Fine Arts Association, for the letter accompanied by a program announcement on "Wa-gaku you."

The "tangible and internalizingly sentient" traditional performing arts experience will be presented by "Wa-gaku you" at the Asian Culture Center of Japan Asia Fine Arts Association in Ginza, Tokyo at 19:30 on the 29th of November, 2007. "Wa-gaku you" is a group formed by Japan's classical dancers and traditional musicians with the hope that "Japanese children who will lead the next would be able to cultivate their pride in their country and rich spirit through their actual experience with the beauty of Japanese traditional culture." And it is a part of the project on which Japan Asia Fine Arts Association has broken ground and of which objective is to promote the appreciation of arts for the future young people.

This forthcoming presentation by "Wa-gaku you" at the Asian Culture Center is a prior booking essential, fee-paid event with drinks.
For a reservation and an inquiry, please contact Japan Asia Fine Arts Association.
Japan Asia Fine Arts Association official Web page "Specified Nonprofit Organization Japan Asia Fine Arts Association" [Japanese]
URL: http://www.j-asia.jp/

November 21, 2007 Hitomi
Performers: Hanayagi Kihi (classical Japanese dance), Toon Kaitsu Shino (nagauta, uta), Tosha Akane (hayashikata), Toon Ito Kyoko (nagauta, samisen), and Sasaki Chikano (koto).
Programs: the playing of koto and tsuzumi [a long hourglass drum tapped with the finger tips or beaten with the hand], "Kotobuki Kurabe" of Urashima Taro [Rip van Winkle], Nagauta "Shima no Senzai" [the purported originator of Shirabyoshi . cf. The Tale of the Heike, vol. 1, the section entitled "Gio." This section says that Shirabyoshi first began in this country when the two named Shima-no-Senzai and Waka-no-Mae started dancing in the governance of Cloistered Emperor Toba], etc.

The Meeting of Geino Gakkai on the 15th of December, 2007

at the Lecture Hall of Kanda Gaigo Gakuin

On Saturday the 15th of December, 2007, the annual meeting for reading research papers will be held by Geino Gakkai [The Society of Performing Arts, The founder: Dr. Shinobu Orikuchi (d. 1953) ] at the Lecture Hall of the main building of Kanda Gaigo Gakuin [Kanda Institute of Foreign Languages].

Part I: Presentation of Research Papers and Report 11:00 - 14:40
11:00 - 12:20
"Jizo-bon on Osaki Kamijima (Osaki Kami Island), Hiroshima Prefecture" by Maki Abe (Doctoral student at the Graduate University for Advanced Studies [Sokendai])
"The present state of the English Pageant" by Ritsuko Ono (Teacher at Keio Senior High School)
-- A sixty-minute recess (lunch) --
13:20 - 14:00
"The Structure of the Drum Performing Arts: from a perspective of Performance Studies" by Hideyo Konagaya (Associate Professor at Siebold University of Nagasaki)
14:00 - 14:40
A Report on the treaty related to the protection (preservation) of the Intangible Cultural Heritage by Junko Yoshida (Cultural Property Examiner at the Agency for Cultural Affairs)
-- A twenty-minute recess --
Part II: Lecture and Demonstrative Performance 15:00 - 16:30
Lecture 15:00 - 15:45
"Kanda Myojin and the Legend of Taira no Masakodo" by Koichi Ikeda (Professor Emeritus at Kanda University of International Studies)
Performance 16:00 - 16:30
The ballad "Shinobiyoru Koi ha Kusemono (Masakado)" by Tokiwazu Matsuodayu (joruri), Tokiwazu Matsukidayu (joruri), Minokichi Kishizawa (samisen), Shikimatsu Kishizawa (samisen), and Yuki Katsumi (dance).

Auditing (Listening in) this entire meeting of Geino Gakka is free (no fee). The participation in this meeting from among non-Society members who are interested in Japanese performing arts are welcomed.

November 8, 2007 Hitomi
Kanda Gaigo Gakuin (Kanda Institute of Foreign Languages)
Address: 2-13-13 Uchikanda, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 166-8525 Japan
About 2 minutes walk from the west exit of Kanda Station on JR Line, and about 3 minutes walk from the north exit of Kanda Station on Subway Ginza Line.

Gatherings for hearing Fushidansekkyo sermons in 2007

The 23rd of November, 2007

The Kansai region
Date and Time: Fri November 23, 2007  19:00 - 21:00
Place: Jodo Shinshu Hongwanji ha Joso-ji (Joso Temple)
Preachers: Rev. Kenjun Hirooka (Otani ha)

Rev. Gihaku Fugoshi (Higashi Honganji ha)

For inquiries, please contact Joso-ji (4-19 Miyukicho, Otsu-shi, Shiga-ken 520-0057 Japan).

July 24, 2007 Hitomi

The 20th of October, 2007

The Tokyo region
Date and Time: Sat October 20, 2007  18:00 - 20:00
Place: Monpo Hall of Tsukuji Hongwanji (Hongwanji Tsukiji Betsuin)
Preachers: Rev. Jisho Taniguchi (Hongwanji ha)

Rev. Gihaku Fugoshi (Higashi Honganji ha)

Other priests

For inquiries, please contact the Office of Fushidansekkyo Kenkyu Kai (Honjo-ji Kaikyoin 798-1 Nagafusamachi, Hachioji-shi, Tokyo 193-0824 Japan).

July 24, 2007 Hitomi
Tsukiji Hongwanji (Hongwanji Tsukiji Betsuin)
Address: 3-15-1 Tsukiji, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-8435 Japan
About 1 minute walk from Tsukiji Station on Subway Hibiya Line, and 5 minutes walk from Tsukiji-Shijo Station on Subway Oedo Line.
Directions to Tsukiji [English and Japanese] (Both English letters and Japanese characters as Text are on the same page.)
URL: http://www.pluto.dti.ne.jp/~kennyko/tsukiji/tsukinew.htm#Directions
and Tsukiji Hongwanji Access Map [English] URL: http://www.pluto.dti.ne.jp/~kennyko/tsukiji/AccessMap.htm
by Rev. Koshin Yamamoto who is one of the English speaking ministers affiliated with Tsukiji Hongwanji and is the head resident priest at Myouenji Buddhist Temple in Kawasaki.
A postscript: Rev. Gihaku Fugoshi gave a Fushidansekkyo sermon on a story behind the loyalty of one of forty-seven Ako warriors to his Lord, Asano Takumi no Kami. Rev. Jisho Taniguchi gave a Fushidansekkyo sermon on Kumagai no Naozane's conversion. While listening to their sermons, I got the feeling that Rev. Fugoshi looked increasingly like Lord Asano as the story unfolded and Rev. Taniguchi's tune belonging, genuinely, to the Tobo school had us swaying to the cadence. Rev. Fugoshi first familiarized us with Fushidansekkyo and Rev. Taniguchi first laid out what uke nembutsu was. What is more, Rev. Taniguchi gave us a go-ahead sign with his hand at every right moment to utter the uke nembutsu during his preaching. Through these kindness and attention of the reverends, few, if any, persons were taken back by a distinct, collaborative orientation in Fushidansekkyo and embarrassed to utter their uke nembutsu when they were moved or filled with joy to such an extent that they came to want to say the Name, though in the opposite way from what was usually required of us at the Buddhist services — usually, we have to hold ourselves and listen respectfully to the Buddhist priest's sermon in absolute silence. Many a voice of uke nembutsu, which is people's nammandabu (na mu a mi da butsu), being let out, and that is what I would call a "place of Fushidansekkyo."
And now, Rev. Dr. Harvey Cox (Harvey G. Cox, Jr.), Hollis Professor of Divinity at Harvard University, says in his book entitled "The Seduction Of The Spirit: The Use and Misuse of People's Religion":
... "He was wounded for our iniquities . . ." The whole crowd seemed to be participating imaginatively in the crucifixion, and in man's perpetual crucifixion of his neighbor.

Then came silence. Then a brief reading from the Gospel of Luke: "Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen." Then Handel's "Hallejujah" chorus.

It was the high point. Most people have always secretly longed for a chance to sing the "Hallelujah" chorus, booming out the bass or soprano with full fortissimo. But in our spectator-performer style churches they have mostly had to bite their lips and listen. Here everyone joined in: "And he shall reign forever and ever . . ." Not only did they sing, they jumped, danced, applauded.

Harvey Cox, The Seduction Of The Spirit: The Use and Misuse of People's Religion (New York: A Touchstone Books, Simon and Schuster, Inc., 1973), pp. 157-158.

Are there persons that feel something similar to that ("they have mostly had to bite their lips and listen") on the occasions of Japanese Buddhist "rites" and "rituals"? Please let me know.

Note: Tobo-ryu (the Tobo school) is an established early-modern tradition of Fushidansekkyo. It is said to have begun when Rev. Emon Mikogami (1791-1862), priest of Fukusen Temple in Tobo, Banshu (today's Hyogo Prefecture), while going on propagandist tours throughout the country, set up a training hall named "Kakurin-ryo (-dormitory)" in the temple precincts, and taught Buddhist priests the method for preaching, as well as lecturing on the tenets of Shin Buddhism. Then, Rev. Eryo, a second-generation descendant of Rev. Emon, though he also made missionary tours, stayed at the temple in summer and winter and pursued an education to cultivate boarding priests and prepare them to become fine preachers. It had since grown to become a prominent preacher training hall flocked by Buddhist priests from all over Japan.
cf. Kenryo Mikogami, Gendai Sekkyo no Shinzui (Japan: Kendo Shoin, 1929).
Note: Kumagai no Naozane (1141-1208), who slew Taira no Atsumori (1169-1184) in the Battle of Ichi no Tani, became Honen's disciple in 1192.
Please see a chronology in English on the "An Abbreviated Chronological Table of Kamakura Period" page. (The chronological table shows 1. Emperor Names, 2. Imperial Era Names in the Kamakura period, 3. What year it was in the Christian Era, and 4. Japanese Buddhism related events.)


Shuichi Ochi "An Inquiry on Hideo Kobayashi's 'I'"

I am going to read it right away

I thank to Mr. Shuichi Ochi for sending me his paper entitled "Kobayashi Hideo no 'Watashi' nitsuiteno Ichi Kosatsu [An Inquiry on Hideo Kabayashi's 'I']" (Rinri Institute of Ethics, Rinri Kenkyujo Kiyo, XVI, 2007) and letter accompanied by an announcement on the 18th Public Lecture of the Society for Mind-Body Science with Mr. Ochi as moderator. Well, I am going to read Mr. Ochi's paper right away.

The 18th Public Lecture of the Society for Mind-Body Science
Date and Time: Sat July 14, 2007  14:00 - 17:30
Place: Rinsho Kodo 1 of Tokyo Women's Medical University
Lecture 1 "Sozoteki Shintai Hyogen no Sekai [The World of Creative Body Expression]" by Junko Harada (Study of Dance, Associate Professor at Osaka Jogakuin College)
Lecture 2 "Karada to Kokoro no Kankei wo Kangaeru [On the Relation between Body and Mind]" by Yutaka Haruki (Physical Psychology, Behavioral Study, Professor Emeritus at Waseda University)

Though short notice, the announcement says that participants from the general public are welcomed. But a ¥ 2,000 JPY attendance fee is required.
July 10, 2007 Hitomi
The Society for Mind-Body Science (Jp. Jintai Kagaku Kai, a registered society of the Science Council of Japan, President: Akemi Tanaka, Ph.D., D.M.Sc., Professor Emeritus at Tokyo Women's Medical University)
The Society for Mind-Body Science Web site's Top Page "Jintai Kagaku Kai - The Society for Mind-Body Science" [Japanese]
URL: http://www.smbs.gr.jp/ or URL: http://www.smbs.gr.jp/main/
A postscript: In the section "Six" (Rinri Institute of Ethics, op. cit., p. 125), Mr. Shuichi Ochi urges us to hearken to a symphony with voices resounding together, that is, the voice of "I" of Hideo Kobayashi (1902-1983), the voice of "I" of Shun Akiyama, and many a voice of "I" that is gone and that is unborn, which are the words of men with their commitment to "I" that convey the message to the weak and the poor, "Get back up, as long as we are human beings," in the today's situation where everyone, young and old, is finding himself forced into the search for an identity, having lost a coordinate axis in today's Japanese society that fluctuates wildly. And Mr. Ochi concludes the section with his interpreting one of Confucius's words, "without believing (trusting), people have nothing to subsist on," as "to believe is to get back up as often as we are knocked down." In this section "Six," the resonant voice of "I" of Shuichi Ochi can be heard.

"An Exposition of a Tibetan Thangka by a Lama Mani
in Japan for the first time"

The 22nd of September in 2007

An exposition of a traditional Tibetan Thangka (a religious iconographic scroll painting) by a Lama Mani (a religious storyteller, using a Thangka painting [or Thangka paintings] to supplement his or her teaching and to tell a story [or stories] from among the stories of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas in a view to increasing understanding of the audiences on the Buddhist principles and values) will be given during the event, "An Exposition of a Tibetan Thangka by a Lama Mani in Japan for the first time: A rare Lama Mani that carries on the tradition of Tibetan Thangka Etoki, and Etoki in Japan," as a part of the "project in commemoration of the 7-year installation of the Zenkoji Nyorai in Saihou Temple." (1)

The Tibetan Thangka Etoki and Japanese Etoki themed event
Date and Time: Sat September 22, 2007  15:00 - 17:00
Place: Main Hall of Saihou Temple (Anyozan Gokurakuin Saihouji) in Nagano
Narrators: Ms. Tsering Dolma, Lama Mani (who is expected to visit Japan)

Ms. Shigeko Takesawa (Saiko Temple [Karukayasan Saikoji] in Nagano)

Ms. Reiko Kobayashi (Rekishi no Machi Nagano wo Tsumugu Kai)


July 8, 2007 Hitomi
Saihou Temple (Anyozan Gokurakuin Saihouji)
Address: 1019 Nishimachi, Nagano-shi, Nagano-ken 380-0842 Japan
Saihou Temple Web site's Top Page "Saihouji Nagano-ken Nagano-shi" [Japanese] ( The page that the link represents includes a dynamic image such as Flash.)
URL: http://www.saihouji-nagano.com/
(1) It is said that it had taken seven years for Zenko Temple (Zenkoji) to reconstruct its main building after the fire in 1700 and the main hall of Saihou Temple had served as the main hall of Zenko Temple during the seven-year rebuilding, with the installation of the principal image of Zenko Temple, the Zenkoji Ikko Sanzon Amida Nyorai , which was re-installed in the newly rebuilt main hall of Zenko Temple in 1707. So, Saihou Temple is going to mark the 300th anniversary of that transfer of the principal image in this September.

Apple's iTunes U program

iTunes U has arrived!

I am delighted at the arrival of Apple's iTunes U program and thank Universities on iTunes U, including Stanford University, UC Berkeley, and Duke University, for their providing access to their digital audio or video content (course materials, faculty lectures by the world's leading scholars, interviews, and more) for free. They are wonderful!
June 24, 2007 Hitomi

Dr. Sekiyama's dialogue will be rebroadcast on NHK radio

June 30th, 2007

Rev. Takakazu Hazuka has told me that Dr. Sekiyama Kazuo's dialogue will be rebroadcast on NHK radio. Thank you very much.

The rebroadcasting of Dr. Kazuo Sekiyama's dialogue
Date: Saturday, June 30, 2007
Start Hour: 14:05 (JST) on NHK radio

June 11, 2007 Hitomi

Kamishibai of the 21st century

Saturday 7th - Sunday 8th July, 2007

I thank to Mr. Toshiaki Kamijima, Representative of Asakusa Zatsugeidan, for the letter accompanied by a program announcement on "Shin Kamishibai Soseiki."

The program titled "Shin Kamishibai Soseiki [New Picture-card show Genesis]" will be on at the Asakusa Mokubatei theater at 18:00 on 7th and 8th July, 2007.

Part I - Preceding performing arts before Kamishibai
Nozoki Karakuri "Yaoya Oshichi" by Asakusa Zatsugeidan
Edo Utsushie "Kokkei Daruma Yowa" by the Minwaza company
Time-honored street Kamishibai "Ogon Batto" by Masao Morishita
Part II - Kamishibai for the 21st century
"Dakatsu hime to Zankimaru" by Yoji Kanda and Mitsuhiro Kashiwabara
Organizer: Sakano Hiroshi Daidogei Juku (Asakusa Zatsugeidan)
Co-organizers: Zankimaru Project, Gekidan "Minwaza"
Collaborators: Etoki Kenkyukai, Misemono Gakkai

This "Shin Kamishibai Soseiki" program at the Asakusa Mokubatei theater is a fee-paid event, and the audiences have to purchase tickets.
Asakusa Zatsugeidan official Web page Asakusa Zatsugeidan [Japanese]
URL: http://www.t3.rim.or.jp/~noborugu/zatugeidan.html

June 9, 2007 Hitomi
Asakusa Mokubatei
Address: 2-7-5 Asakusa, Taito-ku, Tokyo 111-0032 Japan
About 5 minute walk from Asakusa Station on Subway Ginza Line and on Subway Toei Shinjuku Line. Mokubatei is located on "Okuyama Omairimachi" street (also called by its old name, "Gojunoto-dori" street) in Asakusa.
Note: Nozoki Karakuri is sort of a float with gimmicks inside and optical peepholes (lensed peepholes) at the front which enables spectators to observe through and to enjoy a stereoscopic view and motions. Edo Utsushie is a magic lantern picture show of the Edo period or, as one might say, the animation in the Edo period, which was successfully reproduced by the Minwaza company only after years of strenuous study. Kamishibai is a picture-card show. "Ogon Batto [Golden Bat, Phantoma]" seen in the Kamishibai title of Mr. Masao Morishita is the name of the hero of justice whose character had long enthralled Japanese children. "Asakusa Zatsugeidan [group of miscellaneous performing arts performers in Asakusa]" is the name of the demonstration unit of "Sakano Hiroshi Daidogei Juku [Sakano Hiroshi school of street performing arts]." Mr. Yoji Kanda is a kodanshi [professional storyteller]. Mr. Mitsuhiro Sakakibara is a musician.
cf. Toshiaki Kamijima, "Etoku Geino: Jigoku wo Nozoki Miru Tanoshimi [The fearful pleasure of peeping at Hell]" in Masahiko Hayashi ed., Etoki Mangekyo (Japan: San-Ichi Shobo, 1993).
A postscript: As of 11 am, December 9, 2007 in JST, the above-mentioned URL does not work, receiving an Alert "The requested URL /~noborugu/zatugeidan.html was not found on this server."

Sujoruri entitled "Yorikuru Tama"

The 23rd of June, 2007

This year's Geino Seminar of Geino Gakkai [The Society of Performing Arts] is special. With the Faculty of Letters of Keio University, Geino Gakkai will co-organize a performance of Sujoruri entitled "Yorikuru Tama " of which script was adapted by Dr. Yasaburo Ikeda (who was the most distinguished pupil of Shinobu Orikuchi and was Professor at Keio University) from "Shisha no Sho [The Book of the Dead]" of Dr. Shinobu Orikuchi (who was the founder of Geino Gakkai) on Saturday, June 23, 2007 in Mita Campus of Keio University to commemorate the twenty-five-year anniversary of the death of Yasaburo Ikeda.

The Geino Seminar of Geino Gakkai14:40 - 15:30
at Lecture Room 124 of Mita Campus of Keio University
Lecture entitled "About Prof. Orikuchi and Mr. Yasaburo Ikeda" by Hirohiko Okano (Poet, Member of The Japan Art Academy, Professor Emeritus at Kokugakuin University)
A thirty-minute recess
(Including the time to move from Lecture Room 124 to Nishi Kosha Hall)
The Commemorative Performance16:00 - 17:00 (Expected time)
at Nishi Kosha Hall of Mita Campus of Keio University
Sujoruri "Yorikuru Tama"
Adapted by Yasaburo Ikeda from Shinobu Orikuchi's "Shisha no Sho."
Composers: the 8th "Takemoto Tsunatayu" and the 10th "Takezawa Yashichi."
Performers: Sakitayu Toyotake, Enza Tsuruzawa, and Sosuke Takezawa.
The closing of Geino Seminar in 200717:00 (Expected time)

Listening in this Geino Seminar of Geino Gakka is free. Also, seeing Sujoruri "Yorikuru Tama" is free (No admission fee is required). But, please note that the Sujoruri performance will be limited to 600 audiences because of Nishi Kosha Hall capacity, and anyone who comes after the seating capacity has been reached on the day will not be accepted (Doors will be closed after the seating capacity is filled on the day).

May 27, 2007 Hitomi
Concerning this Sujoruri "Yorikuru Tama" performance, please contact "Fujiwara Shigeki Kenkyushitsu" [Professor Shigeki Fujiwara's office (laboratory)] at the Faculty of Letters of Keio University.
Note: "Shisha no Sho" is Dr. Shinobu Orikuchi's creative writing. It describes an inter-sympathetic response between the living, Fujiwara (Nanke) no Iratsume who is commonly called Chujo hime [Princess Chujo], and the dead, Otsu no Miko [Prince Otsu] (663-686, the third Prince of Emperor Tenmu) who had met a violent end, with ancient Japanese's indigenous faith and idea intertwined in the story, though sublimed eventually in a Kami-Buddha fusional perspective as an appeasing concept, specifically, through her weaving and drawing a Mandala (a garment) for the repose of the spirit of the dead (for him to wear). Needless to add, the story is set in Mount Futakami regarded as the intersections and the sphere of the other world, where the tomb of Otsu no Miko is located and Taima Temple is situated, which is noted for the Taima Mandala ("Kangyo hen [Kuan ching pien ]" image in accordance with Shan-tao's Kangyo sho [Ch. Kuan ching shu, Eng. Commentary on the Meditation Sutra] ) associated with the legend of it being woven by Chujo hime with lotus fiber threads in 763. Dr. Orikuchi says in his "Yamagoshi no Amida Butsu Zo no Gain" in Orikuchi Shinobu Zenshu 27 Hyoron hen I [The Collected Papers of Shinobu Orikuchi Vol. 27 The Critical Essays I] (Japan: Chuokoron Sha, 1976) that he has not at all made a pretentious attempt to show that the imagination having the dead [Otsu no Miko] manifested as an ambrosial, sublime, almost Amida Buddha-like figure in the eyes of Fujiwara no Iratsume is a product that comes from the image of "Shoju Raigo" [the welcoming of an aspirant into the Pure Land by a host of sages of the Pure Land, or Amitabha and his attendant Bodhisattvas]. And he says that he was just hoping that readers might be able to understand, even if only slightly, that the image of "Yamagoshi no Amida" [Descent Amitabha over the Mountain(s)] and the custom of "Nissokan" [an invocation of Amitabha while facing towards the setting sun. In terms of Buddhist tenets, Nissokan is the meditation "on the setting sun," the first one of the Sixteen Contemplations centering upon Amida Buddha and his land as presented in Kanmuryoju kyo] on the central day of Higan had been taken in, as those which were indigenous to Japan, deep in the Japanese Buddhist's bosom.
Sujoruri is a form of Joruri presentation without puppets.
Sakitayu Toyotake ("Toyotake Sakitayu"): His father is the 8th "Takemoto Tsunatayu." In 1953, he became a pupil of "Toyotake Yamashiro no Shojo" (1878-1967) who was designated as a living national treasure in 1955. He has received many prizes and awards, including the Education Minister's Art Encouragement Prize, and is a recipient of the Imperial Purple Ribbon Medal in 2004.
Enza Tsuruzawa ("Tsuruzawa Enza"): He is the 6th "Tsuruzawa Enza." In 1979, he became a pupil of the 5th "Tsuruzawa Enza" (1914-2001) who was designated as a living national treasure in 1985. He has received many prizes and awards, including the National Theatre of Japan's Bunraku Award Encouragement Prize.
Sosuke Takezawa ("Takezawa Sosuke"): In 1980, he became a pupil of "Takezawa Danji" (currently, the 7th "Tsuruzawa Kanji" by his succession to the Tsuruzawa Kanji name in 2001) who was designated as a living national treasure in 1997. He has received many prizes and awards, including the Bunraku Kyokai Prize.

The Reverend Shonen Sobue's Heart and Mind

The Reverend Yoshino Sobue

At no time did the sky look so perfect as in the morning of today, for I was able to find the words "preaching" and "propagation" coming from the Reverend Yoshino Sobue for the first time after eleven years since the passing of the Reverend Shonen Sobue, her grandfather who was called "Japan's greatest preacher" and "Master of Preaching" in Japan.

Dear Reverend Yoshino, please do deliver the "true teaching" and your grandfather's "heart and mind" to us.

May 15, 2007 Hitomi
A private remark: I am delighted to hear that Reverend Yoshino will come to Tsukiji Hongwanji on July 3. I look forward to seeing her at the venue of Fushidansekkyo Missionary Meeting on the day.

"With rousing uke nembutsu, stirring sermons!"
Fushidansekkyo Missionary Meeting

The 3rd of July in 2007

I am grateful to Rev. Gihaku Fugoshi, General Secretary of Fushidansekkyo Kenkyu Kai, for the letter accompanied by a detailed program announcement on Fushidansekkyo Fukyo Taikai, which I received today. Seeing the enclosed poster with a pithy phrase "With rousing uke nembutsu, stirring sermons!" makes my heart leap with delight.

Fushidansekkyo Missionary Meeting will be held at Tsukiji Hongwanji in Tokyo on July 3, 2007. Dr. Kazuo Sekiyama who is the leading authority on Fushidansekkyo and the foremost preachers will cross-denominationally get together for Fushidansekkyo preaching. Happy shall be the attendees who have such a uniquely organized opportunity as will enable them to hear the sermons of masters of preaching beyond denominational line.

Fushidansekkyo Fukyo Taikai [Fushidansekkyo Missionary Meeting]
Date and Time: Tue July 3, 2007  10:00 - 15:30
Place: Tsukuji Hongwanji in Tokyo

(the No. 1 Main Hall and the No. 2 Monpo Hall)

Organizer: Fushidansekkyo Kenkyu Kai
Co-organizer: Tokyo Shinran Kai
Sponsors: Ryukoku University

Bukkyo University

Tsukiji Hongwanji

Co-sponsors: Society for the Promotion of Buddhism

Dr. Kazuo Sekiyama (Professor Emeritus at Bukkyo University),
Rev. Kenjun Hirooka (Otani ha Mankaku-ji, Resident Priest, Ishikawa prf),
Rev. Kosho Sasaki (Hongwanji ha Joho-ji, Resident Priest, Kumamoto prf),
Rev. Shujo Fujino (Otani ha Jonen-ji, Resident Priest, Shiga prf),
Rev. Hojo Matsushima (Hongwanji ha Senpuku-ji, Resident Priest, Hyogo prf),
Rev. Shinsei Mori (Otani ha Zengyo-ji, Resident Priest, Toyama prf),
Rev. Jisho Taniguchi (Hongwanji ha Matsuo-ji, Minister, Chiba prf),
Rev. Haruaki Naobayashi (Hongwanji ha Joso-ji, Jizoku [Temple Family], Shiga prf),
and Rev. Gihaku Fugoshi (Higashi Honganji ha Honjo-ji, Resident Priest, Tokyo).

Needless to say, it is an "open door" event.
May 7, 2007 Hitomi
Programs:
Dr. Kazuo Sekiyama "Commentary on Fushidansekkyo" (the No.1 Hall 1st in the morning/the No. 2 Hall 1st in the afternoon).
Rev. Jisho Taniguchi "Tobo ryu preaching with a hymn theme: Jodo Wasan 25 [When sentient beings in various states of existence throughout the ten quarters, On hearing Amida's Name ...]" (the No.1 Hall 2nd in the morning/the No. 2 Hall 2nd in the afternoon).
Rev. Kosho Sasaki "The origin of the ridge pole of Sanju Sangen Do" (the No.1 Hall 3rd in the morning) and "To the memory of Shinran Shonin" (the No.2 Hall 3rd in the afternoon).
Rev. Shujo Fujino "The maternal affection and the Buddha-mind" (the No.1 Hall 4th in the morning) and "A true mother's image" (the No.2 Hall 4th in the afternoon).
Rev. Haruaki Naobayashi "A single Nembutsu" (the No.1 Hall during the noon recess).
Rev. Gihaku Fugoshi "Record of protecting the Buddhist Dharma in the Meiji period —Myonyo Shonin [Nishi Hongwanji's twenty-first abbot] at Daikyo In" (the No.1 Hall during the noon recess).
Rev. Shinsei Mori "Realizing faith —the banishment of Shinran Shonin" (the No.1 Hall 1st in the afternoon) and "Life being fleeting in the swift passage of time" (the No.2 Hall 1st in the morning).
Rev. Hojo Matsushima "An account of the origin of Rennyo Shonin's 'Torafu no Myogo' [the Name in brushstrokes with a tigroid appearance]" (the No.1 Hall 2nd in the afternoon) and "On Izumi Shikibu's conversion" (the No.2 Hall 2nd in the morning).
Rev. Kenjun Hirooka "Rissatsusokugyo : The standing image of Amida Buddha [in such a way as to represent that Buddha rises to His feet and is just about running up to sentient beings or is always on the go]" (the No.1 Hall 3rd in the afternoon) and "Tathagata alone is with me" (the No.2 Hall 3rd in the morning).

"The World of Popular Performing Arts:
Kamishibai, Etoki, and Sekkyo joruri"

The 12th of May in 2007

Having Professor Masahiko Hayashi (Meiji University) as a coordinator, who is the foremost authority in the field of Etoki study, and Professor Jeon Yull Park (Chung-Ang University) as a guest, who is renowned for his study of "Ritual Visitors" or "Strolling Players," from Korea, the lecture entitled "The World of Popular Performing Arts: Kamishibai, Etoki, and Sekkyo joruri" will be held at the Meiji University Liberty Academy Hall on the 12th of May, 2007, with the keywords "Etoki ," "Kumano ," and "Shodo ." It is a wonderful open lecture that allows us to take in the fascination of these performing arts closely.

"The World of Popular Performing Arts: Kamishibai, Etoki, and Sekkyo joruri"
Date and Time: Sat May 12, 2007  13:00 - 16:00 (Doors open at 12:30)
Place: Meiji University Academy Hall (Meiji University Academy Common 3F)
Organizers: Meiji University Liberty Academy

 The Study Group of "Nihon to Eurasia —Koryu to Hyosho"

 Kokusai Kumano Gakkai

 Etoki Kenkyukai

The above organizers are to give this lecture in complete openness for those who are interested in Etoki, Kumano, Shodo, Kamishibai, and Sekkyo joruri. But you need to apply in advance to participate and the attendance fee is required. The Office of the Meiji University Liberty Academy will accept the first 1000 persons. The co