Japan Archives - Killing the Buddha

Stones As Social Media

By S. Brent Plate | March 11, 2014

Adapted from A History of Religion in 5 ½ Objects (Beacon Press, March 11th)

Army of Monk

By Brynn Saito | February 25, 2013

The fighting, silent warrior-monk draws me closer.

Accidental Gods

By Anna Della Subin | May 8, 2012

“…it is impossible for human nature not always to love something.”

Fire-walking at Mount Takao

By Y.B. Shiraz | September 1, 2009

Mount Takao is located in a western, wooded stretch of greater Tokyo. It is a prime destination to take in the seasons and escape the asphalt island that is the rest of the city. Plum and cherry blossoms in the spring and crimson maples in the autumn attract the most visitors. An old temple, Yakuōin,…

Zen and the Art of Hostessing

By Y.B. Shiraz | August 17, 2009

After all, Buddhist monks are men too.

“I Only Desire”: Poet Monks

By Y.B. Shiraz | August 17, 2009

Running into a monk at a hostess bar in Kyoto was as jarring to me as bumping into a rowdy rabbi or Baptist minister at a strip club. Though all may marry, there is still something incongruous when holy men revel at establishments where women are the entertainment. But maybe I shouldn’t have been so…

An Easter service sponsored by US military chaplains, in the public plaza adjacent to the Imperial Palace, 1948.

Red Flags and Christian Soldiers

By Tim Shorrock | April 22, 2003

Operation Gospel – A primer from the last time the U.S. occupied foreign lands.

Princessing Lessons

By Tom Bradley | February 16, 2001

No need for jumbo-jets full of pre-pubescent sex slaves, Japan’s Great Goddess has arrived.

Japan