The Japanese American National Museum, 369 E. First St., Los Angeles, will offer an insider’s view of the major Buddhist temples of Little Tokyo Saturday, April 7, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
This walk will include visits to Koyasan, Higashi Hongwanji, and Zenshuji, and will explain the roles they played in the neighborhood. There will also be an opportunity for lunch.
Cost: $15 for members, $20 for non-members, including museum admission. Wear comfortable walking shoes. RSVP early, 15 students max.
The museum will also offer a docent-led tour of its ongoing exhibition “Common Ground: The Heart of Community” from 1 to 2 p.m.
For more information, call (213) 625-0414 or visit www.janm.org.
I expected that this would be a good event, but it substantially exceeded my expectations. The person who led our walk was knowledgeable and experienced and shared a lot of interesting facts and information. First we very briefly toured part of the Museum itself. From there we walked to five different Buddhist temples, four of which are still being used as such. Each temple was very beautiful, colorful, sweet-smelling (due to incense), and (to a native Westerner such as myself) exotic. At each active temple, a religious official would give a brief talk about their religion, the particular sect to which they belonged, and some of their beliefs, practices, and distinctives. There must be very few if any opportunities to become acquainted with so many different Buddhist groups in such a short time. I hope this event is repeated so that others may experience it as well. I strongly recommend it.