Although the Reverend Shonen was performing the practices at the Guzeizan Joun Temple, yet his yearning for study was only growing. And in the meantime, there came an offer from The Reverend Chikara Yasuda, a director of the Diocesan Office of Sapporo, and the Reverend Shonen started his new life in Hokkaido where he worked as a residential clerk for the Diocesan Office during the day and went to a private junior high school nearby during the evening. In this period, he was also enrolled in a class at the Otani Kotogakko Futsukai summer school (a summer course for three months), which was held at the Diocesan Office, for three consecutive years, and passed the certificate examination and obtained a "Kyoshi" (the qualification to be a resident priest) when he was eighteen years old.

After that time, the Reverend Shonen was assigned to Asahikawa Branch Temple as a Retsuza [in the priestly hierarchy of Sohan ]. This Asahikawa Branch Temple had many Buddhist parishioners, and he used to went about and visit them for offering a sutra and talked with their employees and owned people. Among the parishioners' places there were aimaiya [a brothel combined with a eating and drinking place] and takobeya [a lodging of laborers under inhumane and harsh working conditions], and the reverend shared the pain of the people who had to live in such wretched circumstances and shed tears with them over their agonies and bitter experiences. Through these interaction with the people who would fain live at the bottom of human society in the reverend's Asahikawa days, he said, his desire "to be a fine preacher, instead of ending up as a mere Buddhist priest" came to surge. Also, that the preachers with various characters visited Asahikawa Branch Temple from Japan's main island and their giving sermons were almost daily spurred his thought processes of "being a fine preacher."

"... Other than Shinran Shonin's teachings, there are no such things as true teachings. And yet, people get lost, in many ways. Like what was done [by a cult] recently, Toitsu, what's-its-name, er, that kind of, group marriage and the like. There are more and more things like that coming on. But the true teachings are Shinran Shonin's teachings, if I won't spread these true teachings, I shall be dreadfully sorry, with this view of mine, well, even if they ridicule me and disparage me, I keep going on the road around the nation on foot. This is my purpose of walking across the nation for preaching. I don't want to add to my laurels, I don't want to be respected by others, Shinran Shonin has travelled all over the country on foot with straw sandals, so, these [true teachings], everybody has got to hear [these true teachings], such is my hope."

Fushidansekkyo Material 1-c The Reverend Shonen Sobue's Answers to my questions in Japanese [Japanese EUC]

About the frame of mind A1 Video MOV A1 The first part of the Reverend Shonen Sobue's answer to my questions at Yurinji Temple on the 16th of September, 1992. Kind: QuickTime Movie Format: QDesign Music 2, Stereo, H.263, 240x180 pixels Data Size: 3.5 MB Data Rate: 43.6 K bytes/sec Duration: 00:01:22.27

Audio Video Material A2-1, A2-2, A2-3, A1, A3-3, S1, S2 and S3 :
The Reverend Shonen Sobue
I have selected several scenes as to the preacher of the Shin Buddhism in Japan, the Reverend Shonen Sobue, from an original two hours video Hi8 tape on which I recorded his edification and Fushidansekkyo delivered in the main hall of Yurin Temple (Yurinji), Nagoya, Japan in 1992, and I have made QuickTime Movie (.mov) files, RealPlayer Media (.rm) files and audio (.aif, .mp3) files.

• A2-1: About Tune [Cadence] (.mov, .rm, .aif, .mp3)
• A2-2: About his first preaching at the age of 8 (.mov, .rm, .aif, .mp3)
• A2-3: "Nothing is left if Amida Buddha is taken away from me." (.mov, .rm, .aif, .mp3)
• A1: About the frame of mind when he decided to be a "preacher" that shepherds the people (.mov, .rm, .aif, .mp3)
• A3-3: About the "beautiful voice," the narrative power and the tune (.mov, .rm, .aif, .mp3)
• S1: Fushidansekkyo from "Shinran Shonin den": Resting his head on a stone in the snow (.mov, .rm, .aif, .mp3)
• S2: Fushidansekkyo from "Shinran Shonin den": Refusing to receive his own son Zenran (.mov, .rm, .aif, .mp3)
• S3: Fushidansekkyo from "Shinran Shonin den": Mountain priest Bennen O my heart was changed forever (.mov, .rm, .aif, .mp3)