Love Thy Enemy: Meeting Atomic Bomb Survivors in Nagasaki and Hiroshima

With 88-year-old Hibakusha Mr. Inousuke Hayasaki in the Nagasaki Peace Park. I imagine my mother turning over in her grave at the thought of me socializing with Hibakushas, atomic bomb survivors, while living in Japan. They were after all, the mortal enemy in her mind, they killed my Dutch grandfather and imprisoned my father during … Continue reading Love Thy Enemy: Meeting Atomic Bomb Survivors in Nagasaki and Hiroshima

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Osaka Tenjin Matsuri Festival: Opportunity to Participate In The Cosmos

I felt the world re-enchanted and a reconnection to sacred time when I was transported out of mundane time by participating in the Tenjin Matsuri Festival in Osaka July 24-25. A festival that is considered one of the top three festivals in Japan and has been held at the Temmangu Shinto Shrine for over 1,000 years, it allows young and old to cut through the one-dimensional rationality that dominates our consumer society and momentarily restore the sacred connection to the cosmos.