Along with the heat of summer and rainy season, shrines all over Japan host rice-planting ceremonies to pray for a plentiful harvest. Called the Otaue Shinto Service, since ancient times, Sumiyoshi Taisha Shinto Grand Shrine here south of Osaka hosts the largest ceremony in the nation and has been designated as an Important Intangible Folk … Continue reading Otaue Shinto Rice Planting Ceremony at Sumiyoshi Taisha Shinto Shrine Celebrates Life and Farming
Dine on the River and Catch Noodles in Kibune, Japan
While the summer heats up in Japan, one place to cool off is the mountainous town of Kibune on the outskirts of Northern Kyoto. Kawadoko, dining on traditional Japanese food served while sitting over the floor of the Kibune River, is something not short of spectacular. On a recent trip with Community House and Information … Continue reading Dine on the River and Catch Noodles in Kibune, Japan
My Japanese Summer – List of 10 Things to Do in Japan!
Should I stay or should I go now? That was the question posed to myself after realizing that all of the expats I know are leaving Japan for the summer to visit their home countries or simply to escape the summer heat. Now, I have lived in St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands where … Continue reading My Japanese Summer – List of 10 Things to Do in Japan!
Sutra Copying, Yoga and Zazen in Kyoto
To be admitted to Saihō-ji 西芳寺 Zen Temple in Kyoto and view its famous moss gardens you first have apply for permission months in advance. If accepted, you then pay 3000 ¥ and are required to do sutra copying. Sutra copying was something I had been eager to do when I signed up for this trip with … Continue reading Sutra Copying, Yoga and Zazen in Kyoto
My Japanese Chiropractor and The Year Of Healing
I have been seeing my Japanese chiropractor for almost a year now, and the results keep amazing me! Ueda Yoshiyasu is getting rather popular now, too, as people have been reading my initial blog post about him and his Reflex Chiropractic that is next door to my apartment in Shinmachi, Osaka. He has had so … Continue reading My Japanese Chiropractor and The Year Of Healing
Conscientious Japan’s Ethos – In Pictures
Japan works as a society because its Buddhist principles regard every person and object of nature as worthy of reverence and part of one's own self. There is no separation. What you do to another is what you do to yourself, because you are a product of nature, and nature is a product of you. … Continue reading Conscientious Japan’s Ethos – In Pictures
Kimono-Dressing 101
Walking around Osaka these days, I am hard-pressed to see anyone wearing a kimono. Men and women alike are dressed in Western attire. Kyoto and holidays are the exception, as the amazing colorful patterns and array of fabrics of traditional kimonos fill the ancient streets and festive days then. Kimono rental is a booming business … Continue reading Kimono-Dressing 101
Wandering and Wisteria Hunting in Uji, Kyoto
As a Florida Master Gardener I obsess over flowers. Our 35th floor Osaka apartment has been wonderful, but everything green I've tried to grow has inexplicably died. So I'm out and about all the time anyways hunting Japan's seasonal flower cycles, like Sakura, cherry blossoms, that passed in April. Roses and peonies are now blooming insanely … Continue reading Wandering and Wisteria Hunting in Uji, Kyoto
Japanese Dance, Myth and Renewal During Shoryoe
My Japanese keeps getting better and better, as I was able to understand a lot of what was going on during Shoryoe, the Memorial Service for Prince Shotoku at Shitenno-ji Buddhist Temple here in Osaka. Prince Shotoku built the temple in the sixth century. He was the first Buddhist statesman and was the lay founder … Continue reading Japanese Dance, Myth and Renewal During Shoryoe
Mythic Yoga Journey To Japan Haiku Video Poem No. 1
Upon my first visit to Japan in November 2016 at age 50, I became a filmmaker! I had started writing a bunch of haiku and tanka poems during this powerful experience, then turned them into video poems. This Mythic Yoga Journey to Japan Haiku Video No. 1 was the first video I ever made in … Continue reading Mythic Yoga Journey To Japan Haiku Video Poem No. 1
