The setting: Spring 1988, Kita-Narashino, Japan. I stood, not alone, in the cool and quiet of the night under a cherry tree in full blossom. Rick was with me. We were both ESL teachers at Margaret's School and every Friday evening, the staff went out to the marui sushi or [...]
It's already December! Have I really been back from Japan for almost a month now? On the first day the group was together in Japan, I gave everyone an index card containing a haiku translated into English. Each haiku had an autumn theme. I asked everyone, if possible, to capture [...]
And so our autumn journey to Japan is wrapped up in a slide show. As you watch, you'll hear shakuhachi music, Silver Bamboo, by Dean Evanson. Be sure to turn up your speakers as you watch these lovely images float by like autumn leaves swaying in the wind. A great [...]
I am back home now. I woke up in the middle of the night trying to figure out which city I was in. Was I in Kyoto, Koyasan, Osaka, or Miyajima? Or was I in Tokyo or back in Tsukiji at Kazuko's apartment? Gradually, I figured out I was back [...]
Last night was our last night at the monastery in Mt. Koya. Mt Koya is the center of Shingon Buddhism, a sect introduced to Japan in 805AD by Kukai (also known as Kobo Daishi), one of Japan's most significant religious figures. Mt. Koya is also the site of Kukai's mausoleum [...]
