Happily, the retreat is unlike a typical (and typically austere) Japanese temple stay. Morning and evening zazen (seated meditation) at Dairyuji are by no means compulsory, nor the point.

SANBAGAWA, Gunma Prefecture--Benmou Suzuki’s dilapidated 420-year-old temple, located deep in the forest near a tiny Japanese mountain village, hardly looks like prized real estate. Yet the monk ...

Tsubosakadera temple in Takatori ... The lords promoted their medicines to the lords of various domains during their stay in Edo, now Tokyo, since feudal lords of that time had to travel regularly ...