Japanese page 🎍 Live OTSUTOME in January 2026 🎍-- Gyoki-e --
Let's Nembutsu together on Zoom!
- Session A: January (24)25 (e.g., Morning on 25 in Europe)
- Session B: January 25/26 (e.g., Evening on 25 in Americas)
• Local time near your city, and fuller information (in PDF) --> PDF flier
• One-hour reminder mail request (Please choose A or B) --> • Please note that the reminder request mail address is changed to admin_2@...
• Direct access to the meeting room --> Go to Room 4332892972 directly.
[Pinned] Note) Our emails may be sometimes sorted into your spam/junk folder. If you don't receive any response from us within a couple of days, please check such a folder as well.
[Pinned] Note)For those who live in Japan and are interested in Jodo Shu --
We welcome you at Rinkaian! Please feel free to join in the Nembutsu gathering (4th Sat.) and Sutra Copying Session (2nd Wed.), if you don't mind these gatherings are held in Japanese. (Participation fee is 500 yen. For further information, please see our Japanese page or Rinkaian's Google calendar.) There is another monthly event "Live OTSUTOME," which is held online in English (on Zoom). You can participate for free. (See above.) (2-Mar-2024)
[25-Dec-2025]
The Jodo Shu book guide in the Q & A section (#018) has been updated. Some obsolete links are corrected and an additional book is incorporated. Sorry for any inconvenience caused so far.
[29-Nov-2025]
A new leaflet for introducing Jodo Shu, a material for Jodo Shu newcomers, which was shared at Live OTSUTOME in Nov., is now complete. When you want to talk about Jodo Shu to your friends who are interested in Jodo Shu, this leaflet will help you explain its essence. Check it at Downloads folder.
• JPEG files have been added for use if you encounter problems in printing PDF files (e.g., some fonts may not be compatible).
• Ken-san has created two Infographic converted versions. Great!
• Moreover, a Spanish version of one of the Infographic images has been offered. ¡Maravilloso!
[6-Nov-2025]
New entries have been added to the Q & A section.
[30-Aug-2025]
In the Essay section below is added a new entry, which is a transcript of the talk in Live OTSUTOME this month entitled "Elements of the OTSUTOME and their Psychological Effects."
[19-Aug-2025]
The databases we are using showed up an error and you couldn't read Q&A, etc. for several days. This is due to my (admin Yumiko's) configuration setup mistake. Sorry. They are fixed now (I hope!). Special thanks to Tony-san for telling us about the problem.
[29-Jul-2025]
Photographs of the Obon setup on the front table.
[10-Jul-2025]
A text book "The Essential Teachings of Hōnen Shōnin," published by Jodo Shu North America, is introduced. Please see the Special Issues section below.
[5-Jan-2024]
Another new YouTube video is uploaded. (https://youtu.be/2MN0lD6ckNs )
Rev. Kasahara answers a question: How do you view the relationship between Amida Buddha and the Historical Buddha?
Our OTSUTOME book, a paperback, is available from Amazon US, UK, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, Japan, Canada, and Australia. Please search for a product code "B0CR8ZF419." (The right image is linked to the Japanese Amazon website.)
We know that for other contries, there is a prohibitive shipping cost. We are asking you for any idea to circumvent this problem! Anyway if anyone in such a country wants to get the book, please contact us. (3-JAN-2025)
Essays
Chapter 25 - "Elements of the OTSUTOME and their Psychological Effects" (Summary of a talk in Live OTSUTOME in Aug 2025) (30-AUG-2025)
No. 66: ¿Alguna vez te han pedido dirigir un funeral para alguna mascota, perro o gato? ¿Cuál es la enseñanza del budismo al respecto?
No. 67: Amitabha es todo compasivo y dador. ¿Por qué no deberíamos pedirle cosas materiales sobre asuntos mundanos a Él? La protección también es un asunto mundano.
While our Spanish translations have been originally made by courtesy of Sebastian “Kodo” López, in addition, we now happily introduce a new translator Felipe “Shinpo” Rodriguez. (12-Jul-2024)
Question: In Jodo Shu, is the Pure Land Rebirth Dharani only chanted by priests for hungry ghosts and the deceased, or can it also be practiced by laypeople?
Answer: The dharanis chanted during a Segaki-e or Obon service are typically recited by priests. However, there is no rule stating that laypeople cannot chant them.
Additionally, while these dharanis have the function of relieving the suffering of hungry ghosts (gaki), the gaki still need to initiate their own practice to attain birth in the Pure Land. It's not that our chanting of the dharani alone grants them birth in the Pure Land.
♢ English version of Senchaku Hongan Nembutsu Shu [選択本願念仏集] (sometimes abbreviated as Senchaku Shu [選択集]) provided by BDK America: Downloaded PDF (Feb 2023)
♢ Spanish version of an essential part of Rinkaian's otsutome procedure is now available. This version is created by Shishin 至心 Daleffe-san. For the Spanish speaking people, even if you cannot obtain our OTSUTOME book sold via amazon, this version is sufficient to carry during Live OTSUTOME. (Oct 2024) (Machine-translated) Shishin 至心 Daleffe-san ha creado una versión en español de una parte esencial del procedimiento Otsutome de Rinkaian. Para las personas de habla hispana, incluso si nuestro libro OTSUTOME no está disponible a través de Amazon, esta versión es suficiente para llevar durante "Live OTSUTOME." (Oct 2024)
♢ You can get the full text of "The Essential Teachings of Hōnen Shōnin" , published by Jōdo Shū North America Buddhist Missions in 2022. This is an English translation of "Ganso Daishi Gohōgo" first published by Chion-in Temple in 1915. The book literally consists of Hōnen Shōnin's essential teachings, and all Jodo Shu priests today learn a great deal from it. For anyone wishing to understand Hōnen Shōnin's teachings, it is the first book they should refer to. (July 2025)
References by Jodo Shu Research Institute
While we introduced some JSRI articles here before, they are not available any more. Fortunately, I found them in 'Wayback Machine' (web.archive.org) although some included images are lost and formatting is incomplete. The following anchors are directly linked to web.archive.org. (By admin_yumiko; As of 20-Nov-2020)
If you want to develop a better knowledge about Jodo-shu, these references will be of much help to you. They are excellently solid and diligent works! ...in spite of their poor page layout :-(
(Some of them may include advanced or specialized research topics.)
Rin-Kai-An (literally 'forest-ocean-hermitage' in Chinese characters; pronounced "link-eye-an") is a temple devoted to "Jodo-shu" or Pure Land Buddhism, also called Honen Buddhism, a branch of Buddhism founded in the 12th century. Rinkaian itself was established in 2002 for missions of Jodo-shu, and is now located in Tama City, which is in the west area of Tokyo.
Although our web site currently does not provide much English content, you can download Daily service texts or the like from the downloads page, some of which are linked to YouTube videos.
There is also the Jodo-shu's official site for you to learn basic information about Jodo Shu and Honen Shonin.
If you have any questions, you can contact us via any one of several means (including social media and e-mail).
From 'Hōjō' Kasahara
Hi. My name is Taijun Kasahara. Please call me "Hojo-san" (pronounced like "haw-jaw-san") or just "Kasahara-san," my family name.
I hope this site will show you the way of "easy practice" of Buddhism, o-Nembutsu ("o" is a prefix expressing respectfulness toward Nembutsu) and help you learn Honen/Pure land Buddhism in an authentic way.
Your requests and questions are welcome, and I hope to expand this site by conversing and communicating with everyone. Please don't hesitate to contact us. I'd be happ to hear from you any time.
Note: Sometimes Japanese people friendlily call such an elderly priest as "Hojo-san," in which hojo literally means a room or a hut with an area of about nine square meters, and in turn, mainly refers to a buddhist priest living in such a simple house.
-- Gyoki-e --
