2014/06/29

Tokyo statues

Public art on the streets of Seoul is diverse and numerous, but Tokyo has some notable statues, too, according to this article from AtlasObscura.com where an eclectic mix of stories appear with the search term     japan.

2014/06/13

documentary - Buddhism response to Tsunami 3.11

http://soulsofzen.com includes 2.5 minutes (trailer)

 [background to this visual project]
This documentary explores the role of Buddhism in care for the 3/11 bereaved and the dead based on attention to the everyday lives of Buddhist professionals in the disaster zone. Shot from March to December 2011 with a focus on Zen and Pure Land Buddhism, the film captures Buddhist temples and local communities in their struggles to rebuild. By contextualizing the triple disaster within recent rapid transformations in Buddhism and Japan's enduring tradition of ancestor veneration, Souls of Zen reflects on the complex role of Buddhism in a society shaped by natural disasters, religious pluralism, and demographic change.

Tim Graf is a Ph.D. candidate at Heidelberg University (Religious Studies), and a Ph.D. candidate and Research Associate at Tohoku University (School of Law). He worked at the Collaborative Research Center Ritual Dynamics at Heidelberg University and conducted fieldwork on Zen Buddhism as a JSPS fellow at the University of Tokyo. His research interests focus on transformations of Buddhism in contemporary Japan and more broadly deal with the interplay of religious practice and modern social change.
 [cross-posted from H-Japan announcement for screening in Tokyo at Sophia U. in June 2014]

2014/06/08

"Tower of the Sun"

From the 1970 World Expo near Osaka at Suita-city and near the grounds of Minpaku.ac.jp, the National Museum of Ethnology:


Short blog article and photos.