When watch foreign movies, especially at theaters, I usually make sure to see them with original versions with subtitles, not dubbed ones. But "Frozen II", a...

Every 4th Saturday in January, an annual Grass-Burning-Fire event on Wakakusa-yama Hill is held in Nara. It is officiated in ceremonial manner with prayers b...

This year, 2020 commemorates the 1300th anniversary year of publishing NIHONSHOKI, or "The Chronicles of Japan (720)". It was a national project to make the ...

Last autumn, I was asked to write a short essay on a tabloid paper. It was by a company "Wendy" in Hiroshima that publishes and distributes a million copies...

Now the rainy season has finally over and season of summer festivals with beautiful big fireworks has started all across Japan. Japan produces beautiful mult...

This is an amazingly beautiful video taken by a freelance documentary maker, Koichi Hozan. on July 30, 2018. I just cannot help sharing this one with more pe...

If you are in Nara during the summer season August 5-14th, TOKA-E is a event you don't want to miss. TOKA-E （燈花会）：http://www.toukae.jp/en/ TOKA-E candle nig...

After the World War II, the number of deer in Nara park decreased to as low as 80. However, thanks to the great efforts of the Nara Deer Protection Organiza...

Nara is getting increasingly popular and famous as a city with cute deer. I suppose, for many one day visitors, freely roaming deer in Nara park are more me...

"Zen (禅） - The Life Of Zen Master Dogen (道元" OMG, I found the full movie on Youtube...! (click the above title to see) I saw this movie with my Brazilian, M...

Last year and this year's April, I had an honor to tour guide about 30 people from Upaya Zen Center to Kasuga Grand Shrine in Nara. (Roshi Joan Halifax was l...

I was happy to be invited to a book launch of this new book, "Zen Gardens and Temples of Kyoto" written by John Dougill (TUTTLE) The book launch was held in...

I've found one of the best online information source on Nara created by the local Nara company. So well made, and I was super impressed! Here, Nara does no...

Professor John Dougill made a blog article on his Green Shinto site with 6 questions to me on July 13th. #Nara