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Japan Talks
Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asian mainland, it is bordered to the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea in the south. The Japanese archipelago consists of four major islands alongside 14,121 smaller islands, covering 377,975 square kilometers (145,937 sq mi). Divided into 47 administrative prefectures and eight traditional regions, about 75% of the country's terrain is mountainous and heavily forested, concentrating its agriculture and highly urbanized population along its eastern coastal plains. With a population of over 123 million as of 2025, it is the 11th most populous country. The country's capital and largest city is Tokyo.
The first known habitation of the archipelago dates to the Upper Paleolithic, with the beginning of the Japanese Paleolithic dating to c. 36,000 BC. Between the 4th and 6th centuries, its kingdoms were united under an emperor in Nara and later Heian-kyō. From the 12th century, actual power was held by military dictators known as shōgun and feudal lords called daimyō, enforced by warrior nobility named samurai. After rule by the Kamakura and Ashikaga shogunates and a century of warring states, Japan was unified in 1600 by the Tokugawa shogunate, which implemented an isolationist foreign policy. In 1853, an American fleet forced Japan to open trade to the West, which led to the end of the shogunate and the restoration of imperial power in 1868.
In the Meiji period, Japan pursued rapid industrialization and modernization, as well as militarism and overseas colonization. The country annexed Korea in 1910, invaded China in 1937 and attacked the United States and European colonial powers in 1941, thus entering World War II as an Axis power. After being defeated in the Pacific War and suffering the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan surrendered in 1945 and came under Allied occupation. Afterwards, the country underwent rapid economic growth and became one of the five earliest major non-NATO allies of the U.S. Since the collapse of the Japanese asset price bubble in the early 1990s, it has experienced a prolonged period of economic stagnation referred to as the Lost Decades.
Japan is a constitutional monarchy with a bicameral legislature known as the National Diet. Widely considered a great power and the only Asian member of the G7, it maintains one of the world's strongest militaries but has constitutionally renounced its right to declare war. A developed country with one of the world's largest economies by nominal GDP, Japan is a global leader in the automotive, electronics, and robotics industries, in addition to making significant contributions to science and technology. It has one of the highest life expectancies, but is undergoing a severe population decline and has the highest proportion of elderly citizens of any country in the world. The culture of Japan is globally well known, especially its popular culture, which includes art, cuisine, films, music, animation, comics, and video games.
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Cherry Blossom BodhisattvasJapan, Avatamsaka Sutra, Flower Adornment Sutra, Precepts, Precepts, Daily Life,... |
Apr 13 2024 AM No Abode Hermitage |
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Entering the Samadhi of Buddha’s RadianceA talk by Tenshin Roshi for a gathering of the No Abode community Flower Adornment Sutra, Avatamsaka Sutra, Katagiri Roshi, Suzuki Roshi, Tassajara Zen Mountain... |
Aug 12 2023 No Abode Hermitage |
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Introducing Flower Adornment Book TwoA Dharma talk by Tenshin Roshi for a gathering of the No Abode community Avatamsaka Sutra, Flower Adornment Sutra, Koun Ejô, Bodhisattva Way, Gratitude,... |
Jul 15 2023 PM No Abode Hermitage |
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Ten Vows, Ten Practices, and Ten Cakes Discrimination, Bowing, Japan, Bell, Attachment, Priest, Dragons, Doubt, Bodhidharma... |
Mar 07 2020 PM No Abode Hermitage |
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Stories of EnlightenmentIn our class this fall we will contemplate and converse about several stories of Zen practice and enlightenment. Our contemplation and conversations will naturally bring up questions and concerns... YRB-2019-Fall, Observe, Book of Serenity, Interview, Culture, Suzuki Roshi, Priest,... |
Nov 07 2019 6/7 The Yoga Room |
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Stories of EnlightenmentIn our class this fall we will contemplate and converse about several stories of Zen practice and enlightenment. Our contemplation and conversations will naturally bring up questions and concerns... YRB-2019-Fall, Passions, Doubt, Birth-and-Death, Interview, Culture, Japan |
Oct 24 2019 4/7 The Yoga Room |
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Reaching Home Again Without Realizing It Chanting, Suzuki Roshi, Practice Period, Priest, Japan, Faith, Impermanence, Lotus... |
Oct 19 2019 AM No Abode Hermitage |
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Stories of EnlightenmentIn our class this fall we will contemplate and converse about several stories of Zen practice and enlightenment. Our contemplation and conversations will naturally bring up questions and concerns... YRB-2019-Fall, Blue Cliff Record, Japan, Book of Serenity, Patience, Teacher-and-... |
Oct 17 2019 3/7 The Yoga Room |
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Stories of EnlightenmentIn our class this fall we will contemplate and converse about several stories of Zen practice and enlightenment. Our contemplation and conversations will naturally bring up questions and concerns... YRB-2019-Fall, Four Noble Truths, Book of Serenity, Daily Life, Suzuki Roshi,... |
Oct 10 2019 2/7 The Yoga Room |
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Teachings for the Welfare of the WorldIn this summer series, teachings will be offered for those who aspire to embrace and sustain the great earth and all living beings in order to realize peace and freedom in our troubled world ...YRB-2019-Summer, Evil, Priest, Balance, American, Building, War, Japan, difficulty,... |
Jul 30 2019 6/7 The Yoga Room |
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Teachings for the Welfare of the WorldIn this summer series, teachings will be offered for those who aspire to embrace and sustain the great earth and all living beings in order to realize peace and freedom in our troubled world. ...YRB-2019-Summer, Silence, Mindfulness, Addiction, Japan, Duality, Suzuki Roshi,... |
Jul 23 2019 5/7 The Yoga Room |
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Teachings for the Welfare of the WorldIn this summer series, teachings will be offered for those who aspire to embrace and sustain the great earth and all living beings in order to realize peace and freedom in our troubled world. ...YRB-2019-Summer, Silence, Japan, Don't Know Mind, Soto Zen |
Jul 16 2019 4/7 The Yoga Room |
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A Conversation about Principle and Phenomena Heart Sutra, Perfect Wisdom, confusion, Letting Go, Don't Know Mind, Buddha Mind... |
May 18 2019 AM No Abode Hermitage |
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What Is Most Important For You In This LifeBeing clear about our ultimate concern. Remember, aspire, commit to, and train to realise this. The story of Tong-an and Liangshan: what is the business under the patched robe? Intimacy. Another... Vow, Eihei Koso Hotsuganmon, Buddha Mind, Intimacy, Book of Serenity, Buddha Mind,... |
Feb 02 2019 AM No Abode Hermitage |
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Silent Sitting & Social ActionZen students often ask how our practice of silence and stillness relates to injustice and our environmental crisis. In this class we explore this question and study the intimate interplay of... YRB-2018-Fall, Silence, Bodhidharma, cognitive process, Observe, Fundraising, Lay,... |
Nov 13 2018 5 of 7 The Yoga Room |
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Zazen Is World TransformationKoans, using consciousness to go beyond consciousness; the path which can be spoken is not the true path. Enlightenment, Consciousness, Meditation, Conversation, Priest, Japan, Bell |
Apr 01 2017 PM No Abode Hermitage |
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Following through with the Dung ShovelingCompassion, Zazen, Priest, Faith, Suzuki Roshi, Japan, Intimacy |
May 07 2016 PM No Abode Hermitage |
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White Ox Wisdom in Zen Stories American, Japan |
Dec 04 2014 |
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I always think of Hunan in SpringKoan, Perfection of Wisdom, Perfect Wisdom, Japan, Sangha, cognitive process... |
Apr 12 2014 AM No Abode Hermitage |
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I always think of Hunan in Spring Bodhidharma, Japan |
Apr 12 2014 |
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Speakable and Unspeakable Names of Our Zen Family Ancestorsgood friendship, Responsibilities of student and responsibilities of teacher, Torei Zenji's Bodhisattva Vow, Face-to-Face Transmission, Shui-feng and Yangtan. Sep-po
Torei, Kalyana Mitra, Perfect Wisdom, Transmission, Interview, Japan, Gratitude... |
Mar 01 2014 Afternoon No Abode Hermitage |
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The Good Friendship of Shitou, Matsu and Yaoshan Suzuki Roshi, Japan, Silence, Three Treasures, Bodhisattva Way |
Feb 01 2014 Afternoon No Abode Hermitage |
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Beyond Words: Encountering Zen Reality Bodhidharma, Japan, Emptiness |
Nov 18 2012 |
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The Bodhisattva's Mind of No AbodeThe Bodhisattva’s Mind of No Abode Buddha Mind, Money, Japan |
Sep 01 2012 Morning No Abode Hermitage |
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Facing Change and Realizing Peace Commitment, difficulty, Japan, Funeral |
Aug 02 2012 The Yoga Room |
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Transforming the Mind of Delusion Karmic Consciousness, Mahayana, Abhidharma, Japan |
Jul 14 2011 The Yoga Room |
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Embracing Impermanence Through Zen Practice Generosity, Pain, Japan |
Mar 20 2011 |
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Zen Stories Lineage, Koan, Intimacy, Mahayana, Japan |
Mar 17 2011 The Yoga Room |
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Intimacy with Birth and Death: The 39th Yearly Memorial for Suzuki Roshi Tassajara Zen Mountain Center, Commitment, Suzuki Roshi, Intimacy, Japan |
Dec 04 2010 Afternoon No Abode Hermitage |
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For a Sentient Being to be a Sentient Being is just not to Move Priest, Japan, Lay, Lotus Sutra, Vimalakirti |
Nov 14 2009 Afternoon No Abode Hermitage |
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For a Sentient Being to be a Sentient Being is just not to Move Priest, Ceremony, Japan |
Nov 14 2009 Afternoon |
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Entering and Embodying Truth Soto Zen, Japan, Bodhisattva Precepts, Perfect Wisdom |
Jul 29 2008 The Yoga Room |
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Priest Meeting Japan, Priest, Suzuki Roshi |
Mar 24 2008 |
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The Light of Buddha's Wisdom - Precepts of CompassionBuddha sheds the light of wisdom on the true nature of suffering, liberation, and the human mind, on the teachings of compassion, moral causation, and the whole phenomenal universe. This retreat... Japan, Separation, Suzuki Roshi, Duality, Heart Sutra |
May 05 2007 Part 4 Mount Madonna Center |
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The Light of Buddha's Wisdom - Precepts of CompassionBuddha sheds the light of wisdom on the true nature of suffering, liberation, and the human mind, on the teachings of compassion, moral causation, and the whole phenomenal universe. This retreat... Thich Nhat Hanh, Commitment, Letting Go, Japan |
May 05 2007 Part 5 Mount Madonna Center |
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Trust, Relax, Play, Create, Understand, Liberate Confession-and-Repentance, Commitment, Current Events, Japan, Repentance |
Jun 08 2005 Green Gulch Farm |
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Zen Harmony Through Tea Rituals Ceremony, Japan, Offering |
Jun 02 2005 |
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Zen in Every Cup: Harmony Rituals Ceremony, Japan, Offering |
Jun 02 2005 |
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Unveiling Mind Through Yogcra Insights Building, Separation, Dependent Origination, Japan |
Jan 17 2005 |
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Three Turnings of the Dharma WheelSerial: RA-00381 Three Turnings of the Dharma Wheel Japan, Suzuki Roshi, Study Period, Four Noble Truths, confusion, Dependent Origination, Desire,... |
Jan 09 2005 Green Gulch Farm |
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Three Turnings of the Dharma WheelSerial: RA-00255 Three Turnings of the Dharma Wheel 3 Turnings of the Dharma Wheel -Children... Japan, Study Period, Suzuki Roshi, Four Noble Truths, Birth-and-Death, confusion, Dependent... |
Jan 09 2005 Green Gulch Farm |
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Offering to Hungry GhostsSerial: RA-00399 11/3/04 Tenshin Roshi - Wed Nite "Offering to Hungry Ghosts" -Post-election Feelings -Roshi's Mother's Death -Sejiki Ceremony... Impermanence, Practice Period, American, Diversity, Interdependence, Chanting, Culture, Doubt,... |
Nov 03 2004 |
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Dogen Zenji's Tranquility InstructionsSerial: RA-00389 8/18/04 Tenshi Roshi Sesshin #3 Dogen Zenji's Tranquility Instructions (Various versions of 'Fukanzazengi') 1. Pratimoksha samvara (Discipline... Diversity, Bell, Breath, Zazen, Japan |
Aug 18 2004 Day 3 Green Gulch Farm |
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Playful Sincerity in Zen Practice Buddha Nature, Daily Life, Japan, Hindrances |
Aug 23 2003 |
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Zen Communion in Daily Life Buddha Nature, Daily Life, Japan, Three Treasures |
Aug 23 2003 |
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Grandmother Mind: Embodying Zen Practice Buddha Nature, Commitment, Daily Life, Big Mind, Japan |
Aug 22 2003 |
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Heart Sutra Heart Sutra, Japan, Emotions |
Aug 11 2003 |
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Heart SutraSerial: RA-00156 #Duplicate of #00165 Suzuki Roshi, Emotions, Heart Sutra, Japan |
Aug 11 2003 |
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Fathers and the Three Natures causation, Japan, Intimacy, Suzuki Roshi, Funeral |
Jun 15 2003 |
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Harmony in Zen: Calming and Insight Breath, Japan, Cultivation, Passions, Buddha Ancestors |
Jan 09 2003 |