Kyoto–Ryoanji
October 27, 2011 The Ryoanji (ryou an ji, Peaceful Dragon Temple) was originally a country villa belonging to members of the powerful Fujiwara clan, which dominated the government during the… Read more »
Tag: Buddhism
Kyoto–Kiyomizudera Temple and Jishu Shrine
October 26, 2011 I am making a single post for the Kiyomizudera Temple and Jishu Shrine since these popular sites are located right next to each other and anyone who… Read more »
Osaka–Shitennouji Temple
17 October 2011 The Shitennouji (Temple of the Four Heavenly Kings) is Japan’s oldest surviving Buddhist temple. It was built by Prince Shoutoku (574-622), one of the country’s earliest and… Read more »
Nichiren Buddhism
Nichiren (1222–1282) was a Tendai monk who decided that all the existing schools of Buddhism were heretical and needed to return to the correct practice as expressed in the Lotus… Read more »
Zen Buddhism
“Zen” is the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese word “Chan”. Chan Buddhism was supposedly founded by an Indian monk named Bodhidharma who traveled to China in the early 5th century… Read more »
Shingon Buddhism
Shingon Buddhism was founded by a monk named Kuukai, who is more commonly referred to by his posthumous name of Koubou-daishi (“Great Teacher of Buddhist Doctrine”). In the year 804… Read more »
Early Japanese Buddhist Sects
I’m not sure whether anyone is interested in any more long posts about Japanese Buddhism. This doesn’t even have too much relevance to anime. Anime often has references to Buddhism… Read more »
A Visit to the Chuang Yen Monastery
The Chuang Yen Monastery in Kent, New York doesn’t really belong in this blog’s “Japanese Culture” category since it was built by Chinese immigrants. However there is a huge amount… Read more »
More Than You Ever Wanted to Know About Buddhism and Anime
I’ve been meaning to write a long post about Japanese ideas about death, but I can’t seem to deal with that without discussing the Buddhist religion first. I’m not going… Read more »