Japan Talks
Japan (Japanese: 日本, Nippon or Nihon, and formally 日本国, Nihonkoku) is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north toward the East China Sea, Philippine Sea, and Taiwan in the south. Japan is a part of the Ring of Fire, and spans an archipelago of 14,125 islands, with the five main islands being Hokkaido, Honshu (the "mainland"), Shikoku, Kyushu, and Okinawa. Tokyo is the nation's capital and largest city, followed by Yokohama, Osaka, Nagoya, Sapporo, Fukuoka, Kobe, and Kyoto.
Japan is the eleventh most populous country in the world, as well as one of the most densely populated. About three-fourths of the country's terrain is mountainous, concentrating its highly urbanized population on narrow coastal plains. Japan is divided into 47 administrative prefectures and eight traditional regions. The Greater Tokyo Area is the most populous metropolitan area in the world. Japan has the world's highest life expectancy, though it is experiencing a population decline.
Japan has been inhabited since the Upper Paleolithic period (30,000 BC). Between the 4th and 9th centuries, the kingdoms of Japan became unified under an emperor and the imperial court based in Heian-kyō. Beginning in the 12th century, political power was held by a series of military dictators (shōgun) and feudal lords (daimyō) and enforced by a class of warrior nobility (samurai). After a century-long period of civil war, the country was reunified in 1603 under the Tokugawa shogunate, which enacted an isolationist foreign policy. In 1854, a United States 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, the Empire of Japan adopted a Western-modeled constitution and pursued a program of industrialization and modernization. Amidst a rise in militarism and overseas colonization, Japan invaded China in 1937 and entered World War II as an Axis power in 1941. After suffering defeat in the Pacific War and two atomic bombings, Japan surrendered in 1945 and came under a seven-year Allied occupation, during which it adopted a new constitution.
Under the 1947 constitution, Japan has maintained a unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy with a bicameral legislature, the National Diet. Japan is a developed country and a great power. Its economy is the world's third-largest by nominal GDP and the fourth-largest by PPP, with its per capita income ranking at 36th highest in the world. Although Japan has renounced its right to declare war, the country maintains Self-Defense Forces that rank as one of the world's strongest militaries. A global leader in the automotive, robotics and electronics industries, the country has made significant contributions to science and technology. It is part of multiple major international and intergovernmental institutions.
Japan is considered a cultural superpower as the culture of Japan is well known around the world, including its art, cuisine, film, music, and popular culture, which encompasses prominent manga, anime and video game industries.
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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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Reaching Home Again Without Realizing It Chanting, Suzuki Roshi, Practice Period, Priest, japanese, 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, true dharma, Book of Serenity, Patience,... |
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, Silence, japanese, Teacher-and-Student, Priest, Interview, Tassajara... |
Jul 16 2019 4/7 The Yoga Room |
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Our Original HomeHuman consciousness limits reality so that it can grasp "things". Torei Zenji, Consciousness, Ego, Emotions, Evil, Japan, Discrimination, Interview,... |
Jul 13 2019 PM No Abode Hermitage |
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A Conversation about Principle and Phenomena Heart Sutra, Perfect Wisdom, resistance, confusion, Letting Go, Don't Know Mind... |
May 18 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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Listening, Training, Hearing and LiberationDiscrimination, Enlightenment, Compassion, Study, Delusion, Discrimination, Non-... |
Aug 09 2014 PM No Abode Hermitage |
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I always think of Hunan in SpringBodhisattva Vow, Koan, Perfection of Wisdom, Perfect Wisdom, japanese, cognitive... |
Apr 12 2014 AM No Abode Hermitage |
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The Good Friendship of Shitou, Matsu and YaoshanShitou, Mazu, Yaoshan, Koan, Teacher-and-Student, Perfect Wisdom, Manjushri, Faith,... |
Feb 01 2014 Morning No Abode Hermitage |
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The Good Friendship of Shitou, Matsu and Yaoshan Japan, Suzuki Roshi, Silence, Triple Treasure, Funeral, Mahayana, japanese, Faith... |
Feb 01 2014 Afternoon No Abode Hermitage |
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The Work of Going Beyond Buddha“Going Beyond Buddha” (partial) Sept 2013 No Abode Perfect Wisdom, Silence, Right Speech, Buddha Ancestors, Don't Know Mind,... |
Sep 21 2013 Morning No Abode Hermitage |
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The Work of Going Beyond BuddhaRealization in the body Observe, Big Mind, Mill Valley, Describe, Passions, Zazen, Priest, Japan |
Sep 21 2013 Afternoon No Abode Hermitage |
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I've long heard there is no Zen in India Dragons, Lotus Sutra, Buddha Nature, Humility, Book of Serenity, Karmic Consciousness... |
May 17 2013 Morning No Abode Hermitage |
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I Have Long Heard of Dragon PondI Have Long Heard of Dragon Pond Perfect Wisdom, Dragons, Lotus Sutra, Buddha Mind, Lineage, Enemies, Doubt, Japan... |
Apr 13 2013 Afternoon No Abode Hermitage |
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Bodhisattva Precepts Guided by the Teaching of Mind OnlyBodhisattva Precepts Guided by the Teaching of Mind Only AM Karmic Consciousness, Bodhisattva Precepts, Sangha, Rinzai, Enthusiasm, Duality,... |
Oct 06 2012 Morning No Abode Hermitage |
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The Four Aspects of Practicing the Threefold Ethics of Bodhisattvas Bodhisattva Precepts, Breath, Enthusiasm, Mahayana, Commitment, confusion, Patience,... |
Feb 04 2012 Afternoon No Abode Hermitage |
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Stimulating Bodhisattva's courage and entering reality Observe, Rinzai, Gratitude, Bodhisattva Vow, Enemies, Japan, Bodhidharma, Religion,... |
Oct 15 2011 Afternoon No Abode Hermitage |
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Whole-Hearted Commitment for the New Year Intimacy, Priest, Bodhisattva Precepts, Enthusiasm, Japan |
Jan 02 2011 Afternoon No Abode Hermitage |
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Intimacy with Birth and Death: The 39th Yearly Memorial for Suzuki Roshi Buddha's Birthday, Commitment, Tassajara, Suzuki Roshi, Intimacy, Priest, Japan... |
Dec 04 2010 Afternoon No Abode Hermitage |
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Paying Respect to the Great Teacher Daily Life, Enemies, Birth-and-Death, Greed, Tassajara, Doubt, Commitment, confusion... |
Nov 06 2010 Afternoon No Abode Hermitage |
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The Ultimate transcends Difference and UnitySamdhinirmochana Mahayana Sutra Chapter 3, part 1 Tenshin Reb Anderson Nirvana, Fox, Lineage, Soto Zen, Japan, Oneness, Samsara, Bowing, Interview, soto... |
Jun 13 2009 Morning No Abode Hermitage |
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Causation and Non-Self Evil, Attachment, Lineage, Faith, Doubt, Zazen, confusion, Japan, Patience, War... |
Mar 26 2009 The Yoga Room |
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The Buddha Way is Ongoing Crisis Bodhisattva Precepts, Letting Go, Don't Know Mind, Buddha Ancestors, Buddha Mind... |
Aug 16 2008 Morning No Abode Hermitage |
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Entering and Embodying Truth Soto Zen, Japan, Perfect Wisdom, Bodhisattva Precepts, soto, japanese, Priest, Family... |
Jul 29 2008 The Yoga Room |
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Worship of the BuddhaWhen a person pays homage and bows to the Buddhas, there is just one Buddha with no other person. Lotus Sutra, Bowing, Buddha Ancestors, Duality, War, Bodhisattva Vow, resistance,... |
Jul 28 2007 Morning No Abode Hermitage |
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The Bodhisattva and the Mahayana"Enlightening beings" are committed to living for the benefit of all beings; they practice in the "universal vehicle" which includes everyone. Mahayana, practicing generosity, Enemies, Complete Perfect Enlightenment, Heart Sutra... |
Jul 14 2007 Morning No Abode Hermitage |