Wot I no abut Shinto

Source: New York Post ()

JOLLY DALAI
'9/11' PRODUCERS LOOK FOR RELIGIOUS ANSWERS

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Rating: December 21, 2007 — ON September 11, 2001, French filmmaking brothers Jules and Gedeon Naudet were in the midst of filming a documentary about NYC firefighters when the planes hit the World Trade Center. For the brothers at the scene, who faced death and saw death, it changed their lives in profound ways.
From that experience, they produced the extraordinary, Peabody-award winning film,
"9/11," and it also made them question how a just and fair God could have allowed this to happen. That question took the brothers around the world to meet with 12 of the most important religious leaders. The film that resulted is "In God's Name."
The clergy the brothers spoke with include an astounding array of power and might. In alphabetical order they are: Alexy II, head of the Russian Orthodox Church; Amma, a Hindu spiritual leader; Pope Benedict XVI; The Dalai Lama; the Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah; Bishop Mark S. Hanson, president of the Lutheran Federation; Michihisa Kitashirakawa, high priest of the Grand Ise Shinto shrine; Yona Metzger, Ashkenazi chief rabbi of Israel; Dr. Frank Page, president of the Southern Baptist Convention; Imam Mohammad Sayed Tantawi, Sunni grand sheikh of Al-Azhar; Joginder Singh Vedanti, the highest authority of all Sikhs; and Dr. Rowan Williams, archibishop of Canterbury. Conspicuously missing is a Mormom representative, despite the fact that it is, according to "U.S. News & World Report," the fastest-growing faith group in American history.
Unfortunately, none of those included seemed to have all the answers, or even a good chunk of them. You may come away with more questions than answers and conclusions.
First, it seems, as presented here, that professional religious leaders speak in platitudes. Second, the …

Source: Salt Lake Tribune ()

NEW YORK - ‘’In God’s Name'’ begins with a brief introduction from its filmmakers, Jules and Gedeon Naudet, who take the viewer back - back to the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, when the brothers were in lower Manhattan working on a documentary on New York firefighters.

    Jules was shooting inside the World Trade Center’s north tower when the south tower fell. Gedeon spent hours fearing his brother was lost. Jules feared the same about Gedeon.

    This all became part of their film, ‘’9/11,'’ which premiered on CBS in March 2002 and was subsequently seen around the world.

    But years later, the film, and the awful day that dominated it, still absorbed them.

    ‘’It was the first time I had been confronted with death,'’ Jules says, ‘’and I had questions, existential questions. What does it all mean? I remember talking with my brother: Is there something we can do with this in a documentary?'’

    The plan they hatched called for taking their questions to people well-positioned to address them: a dozen of the world’s leading spiritual figures, representing some 4 billion followers.

    The Naudets’ wish list included Pope Benedict XVI, head of the Roman Catholic Church, and the Dalai Lama, spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhists - not the sort of folks normally subjected to a pop-in from an inquiring film crew.

    But the Naudets believed they could Advertisementget access. And not just for an interview, but for a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the personal lives of these public figures.

    Turns out the brothers were right. The two-hour ‘’In God’s Name'’ (8 tonight on KUTV Channel 2) is a crash project still being completed. But the parts available for preview hold promise of a beautifully realized portrait of faith in dozen human variations. For all its elements, it flows seamlessly with images and ideas that should …

Source: Boston Globe ()

Television Review

12 spiritual leaders, so little time

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By
Matthew Gilbert

Globe Staff
/
December 22, 2007

“In God’s Name” is a gorgeous, operatic collage about everything at once and nothing at all. The goal of the CBS documentary is to profile 12 religious leaders from around the world - their beliefs, their feelings on terrorism, their callings, what they eat for breakfast, what life means to them, what death means to them - in under two hours. The result: hundreds of snippets of profundity and visual poetry thrown together, shaken up, reassembled, and set to dramatic music.The ambitious film is from Jules and Gedeon Naudet, the French brothers who happened to be filming New York firefighters during the World Trade Center attacks and came away with a horrifying close-up of that day called “9/11.” “In God’s Name,” tomorrow night at 9 on Channel 4, picks up where “9/11″ left off, as the brothers explain how the attacks inspired them to wonder about the power of faith. They decided to carry their cameras around the world to ask personal questions of the Dalai Lama, the president of the Southern Baptist Convention, the Pope, a Shi’ite Muslim leader, the chief rabbi of Israel, the high priest of the Shinto Grand Ise Shrine, and others.It’s not often that we find such spiritual questing in prime time, and the Naudets and CBS deserve nods for the earnestness of “In God’s Name.” This is not your average holiday special styled with candy canes and holly. But the scope of the project begs for more time - a miniseries format, perhaps - and the film ends up jumping so much from leader to leader and faith to faith as to leave you cross-eyed and, ultimately, a little bored. It’s a noble effort, but it doesn’t accumulate into much.The Naudets seem to want to find the commonality in all religions by creating one big tapestry of their filmed pieces. A sense of “one love” pervades the film, which is nice - and …

Source: Asia Times Online ()

     Dec 22, 2007

Japan’s Fukuda in a fight for his life
By Hisane Masaki

TOKYO - As the Year of the Rat begins, Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda
continues to face the daunting challenge of pushing through his agenda in the
new harsh political landscape. With a formidable opposition force, declining
poll ratings and a possibly crucial general election in the new year, he is
expected to keep struggling.

For those who want big changes in the nation, the past Year of the Boar may
have been dull and disappointing. The structural reform drive ignited by former
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and basically inherited by Fukuda’s immediate
predecessor Shinzo Abe has lost momentum. For those who want the status 

quo or at least no hasty change, however, the old year may not have been so
bad.

In the wake of its historic electoral rout, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party
(LDP) elected Fukuda as its new leader in September in hopes that the veteran,
less reform-minded moderate with a reputation as a consensus-oriented
politician, would bring much-needed stability to the government LDP-led
ruling coalition.

While vowing to continue with the structural reform drive, Fukuda has …

Source: Asia Times Online ()

    
Nov 28, 2007

Dalai Lama cuts little ice in
Japan
By Catherine Makino

TOKYO - Ignoring the fact that Japan has a
sizeable Buddhist population, the government of
Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda cold-shouldered the
Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, during
his 10-day visit that ended last Friday.

Not one government official met one of the
world’s best-known personalities either at the
airport or at his prayer sessions and meetings
where he confined speeches to spirituality.

The official ignore contrasted sharply
with the Dalai Lama’s visit in

October to the United States
where he was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal,
the highest civilian award. US President George W
Bush attended the ceremony and personally handed
over the medal.

Interestingly though,
Yukio Hatoyama, secretary general of the
opposition Democratic Party, pointedly met the
Dalai Lama before he left the country and
expressed support for the Tibetan’s leader’s
concept of “greater autonomy” for Tibet within
China.

The 72-year-old Nobel Peace Prize
laureate was in Japan at the invitation of a
Buddhist group, to tour the famed Shinto shrine of
Ise Jingu, visit local schools and give speeches
on spirituality. In fact, he was allowed to visit
the country on condition that he would not engage
in political activities.

China, which sent
troops into Tibet in 1950, objects to the
international travels of the Dalai Lama. It
accuses him of fomenting Tibetan The
Dalai Lama escaped from the Tibetan capital of
Lhasa, in 1959, after a failed uprising …

Source: Globe and Mail ()

IKITSUKI ISLAND, Japan — One by one, the sacred relics — a medal of the Virgin Mary, a crucifix and other revered objects — are taken from a cupboard and placed on an altar for a Christmas Eve rite passed down through centuries from Japan’s earliest Christians.

Then, kneeling in the simple hall built where martyrs are said to have been burned on this tiny, remote island 400 years ago, five elders murmur chants as they bow and make the sign of the cross.

The kimono-clad deacons are descendants of "Kakure Kirishitan," or Hidden Christians, who kept their religion alive on Ikitsuki and in other isolated pockets of Japan during 250 years of suppression, adapting their rites to the demands of secrecy and blending them with local beliefs.

These days, the religion faces a modern threat of extinction as young people, like those elsewhere in rural Japan, leave their homes in search of jobs, drifting away from their gods and the rituals that honour them.

Enlarge Image

Fumio Suenaga (L) and Yasutaka Toriyama, descendants of Japan’s ‘Kakure Kirishitan,’ or Hidden Christians, chant as part of a ritual on Ikitsuki Island. One by one, the sacred relics — a medal of the Virgin Mary, a crucifix and other revered objects — are taken from a cupboard and placed on an altar for a Christmas Eve rite passed down through centuries from Japan’s earliest Christians. (Kiyoshi Ota /Reuters)

"It’s sad. The tradition of our ancestors is disappearing," said Ayuzo Matsuyama, one of those gathered to observe "Osanmachi" and "Gotanjo" — Christmas Eve and Christmas — last weekend, the last Saturday and Sunday before the solstice.

"We inherited this ‘old Christianity’ from our ancestors and we wanted to continue it forever, …

Source: Reuters UK ()

By Dan Sloan

IZUMO, Japan (Reuters Life!) - Some 8 million gods leave
Shinto altars and hearths for Izumo Grand Shrine in November,
known as “the month of deities” at the holy site and the “month
without” elsewhere in the island nation.

During the annual Visiting God Festival, priests lead
rituals and bless offerings to the spirits taking up lodgings
in the shrine, which is believed to be Japan’s oldest.

Finding their own accommodation amid the heavenly deluge,
couples and singles seeking blessings flock to Izumo, home to
the patron god of happy wedlock, fortune and agriculture.

Izumo, a designated national treasure in rural Shimane
Prefecture near the Sea of Japan, draws more than 2.2 million
tourists a year and lately more young women.

“I hope to get married,” says Shiori Hagihara, 27, after
tying a paper blessing to an Izumo pine.

Hagihara and two women friends drove eight hours from
Fukuoka in the southern island of Kyushu.

Masako Fukushima spent the night on a highway from Tokyo.

don’t have a special interest in religion, but have
visited shrines for celebrations since I was young,” she said.  Continued…

Source: Austin American-Statesman ()

TRAVEL

By John DeFore
SPECIAL TO THE AMERICAN-STATESMAN

Sunday, December 16, 2007

Until a few years ago, any interest I had in going to Japan centered on Tokyo, where I naively believed all things Japanese — from the bizarro commercial culture and neon chaos of “Blade Runner” to ancient samurai homes — could be found in equal measure. (I also thought “Ultraman” toys would be everywhere, which is a little like expecting today’s American kids to play with Red Ryder BB guns.)

Then I met my wife, Laurie, who at the time had just returned from Tokyo’s anagrammatical cousin, Kyoto, and fairly radiated enthusiasm when she spoke of the place; she was like a recent religious convert who effused over the sense of awe the place inspired in her.

So when we got the chance to visit Japan this summer, we allotted almost a full week to Kyoto, where I was pleased to discover I could get my crazed-metropolitan fix (luxury retailers sat wedged between seedy clubs and pachinko parlors) while soaking up an unparalleled array of centuries-old culture.

I learned that while United States firebombing in World War II destroyed a staggering percentage of the nation’s holy places and old wooden structures, Kyoto had been spared. Tour guides attribute this good fortune to American scholar Langdon Warner, who reportedly persuaded military tacticians to steer clear of the city because of its cultural value.

Some dispute this version of events, but whatever the reason, an astounding number of pre-war structures remain in Kyoto, where modern concrete apartment buildings share blocks with well-worn wooden homes.

There are people who return from Japan thinking “if you’ve seen one temple, you’ve seen them all.” I know this is true because I’ve heard it, but it’s impossible to believe; anyone with even a modest curiosity architecture, design or culture could keep busy in Kyoto for longer than their budget would allow, …

Source: The Plain Dealer - cleveland.com ()

Class act: Those youngish, career-motivated doers from
Cleveland’s Professional 20/30 Club pulled off a
happening holiday soiree at Severance Hall on Dec. 6. There,
a heavily suit-and-tie crowd partied in the gilded,
marble-ensconced grand lobby while sipping cocktails,
gambling on raffle prizes and networking. Nearly 200
go-getters showed up for the party, one of 12 social events
among 60 programs scheduled throughout the year.

Rewind: As religious holiday tunes flowed into the party,
event planner Tom Uden called for a change. “All they
have back there is the Time/Life anthology of
classics,” he said. He added the holiday sounds of
Elvis Presley, Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra.

Official statement: A representative from the orchestra
made sure to let PDQ know that Severance Hall wants folks in
their 20s and 30s to feel like the venue is their home.

Overheard: “I haven’t been here since high
school. I forgot how huge it is.”

%%head%%Entrepreneurs Organization Holiday Party%%endhead%%

The good life: The Cleveland chapter of Entrepreneurs
Organization spared no expense for its high-class holiday
party at Moxie restaurant in Beachwood on Dec. 6. The group,
an organization of business owners whose companies earn more
than $1 million in revenue per year, arrived in jazzy
cocktail and business attire for the sit-down dinner that
had the restaurant closed to the public for the evening.
Moxie put out a gorgeous surf-and-turf dinner for 145
partygoers that ended on a sweet note with house-made candy
bars and a cake from White Flower Cake Shoppe of Beachwood.

It’s how you look: Group president Eric Ludwig planned
the affair and hired Cleveland’s event designer to the
stars, Stephen Tokar, to transform the space into a festive,
modern wonderland. Ludwig donated yards of colored paper
from his company, Pulsar Products, Tokar’s team
constructed hanging mobiles, Christmas trees and menus.
Tokar also used 500 candles to set …

Source: Daily Times ()

If Asia focuses on its trans-cultural ethical core, an entirely new spirit of unity can be developed that uses soft power instead of military force and does not know enemies, but only partners and competitors. In this way, Asia could catch up with the West in terms of its cultural integration while contributing to the establishment of a genuinely peaceful new world order

Many Europeans doubt that Asia can catch up with Europe in terms of regional integration. But Asia not only has the type of stable common ethical foundations that were so important to European integration; it also has a well developed set of moral principles, some of which were an established part of Asian culture long before similar principles were adopted in Europe. Indeed, these Asian principles can serve as a part of an emerging common global ethic.

Of course, Asia does not yet have a cohesive core culture comparable to that of Europe, which is founded on the Judeo-Christian tradition and the Enlightenment. But Europeans ought not to be too arrogant, because, in recent years, that common European culture has itself proven to be fragile, particularly in light of the Bush administration’s divide-and-rule strategy pitting “Old Europe” against “New Europe”. And, just as the inhuman terror attacks of September 11, 2001 severely damaged Islam’s credibility in many people’s eyes, the invasion of Iraq, which was based on lies, has damaged both Christianity and the Western community of values.

Although Asia seems to lack Europe’s cultural core, there are core ethical constants that have long governed Asian societies and indicate common ethical foundations. Indeed, in some respect, Asia has more experience with intercultural relations than Europe. As early as the third century BC, Buddhism spread peacefully from India to Sri Lanka and to large parts of Southeast Asia. In the first CE, it continued its advance, spreading along the Silk Road to Central Asia and China, and …