that was the theory behind my scheme to stay at a zen temple. i suppose it was a pie in the sky idea for a long time, and only started to get wheels on the ground when my japan grandmother found an article in the newspaper of a foreigner (gaijin) who got to stay at a zen temple in rural hokkaido. there was even a grainy picture of the gaijin. he looked like an anglo-american, but could have honestly been almost anything else, including something like me, a nikkei, a person of japanese ethnicity but american citizenship. the gaijin was standing in the middle of some sort of crop. it looked like cornfields, only the tops of the stalks only came up to his armpits. he was looking down at the crops, at an angle, and laughing. at least, it looked like he was laughing, in that kind of nervous, bemused sort of way you do when you know someone is taking a picture of you.
the actual text of the article (which, of course, i couldn't read) mentioned that this gaijin had an interest in zen buddhism, and was allowed to stay in residence at the temple, which was called tsurui-mura. my japan grandma tried to explain to me that "tsurui-mura" was a place famous as a gathering place for "tsuru" (or cranes), and that it was located near kushiro, a port town on the southwestern part of the island of hokkaido.
she then asked if i were interested in staying there.
i replied in an abstract, noncommital manner, one which reflected my general attitude towards life at the time.
i was already in japan then, but i wasn't quite sure what for. in a way, i was the rope in a mild tug-of-war of sorts between my hawaii grandma, and my japan grandma. i had graduated from college with a degree in religion about a year ago. i'll explain it here just to be clear (because many ask, and many assume): a religion degree from my school has nothing to do with "theology" or "christianity," but is the study of religion as a social, psychological, cultural phenomenon. some actually consider the religion department at my school "antireligious", in the sense that, from the outset, it divorces itself from the "practitioner" or "believer" perspective, and attempts to instead use secular, philosophical lenses to understand what religion is, and what role it plays. in any case, after returning home, i was honestly floating. i was working three meaningless part time jobs just to keep myself busy, but none of it was leading anywhere that i wanted to go.
i guess when i mentioned to my hawaii grandma that i was interested in studying and practicing buddhism because i'd already gotten a degree in the subject, then she jumped in and offered for me to go to japan to practice her religion, tenrikyo, instead. i shrugged, and said why not, and that led to me staying over in tenri city in nara, japan, to go through some religious training courses.
it was only after about half a year that my japan grandma showed me the article.
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