Koshinji, Buddhist temple in Otawara, Japan
Koshinji is a Zen Buddhist temple located in Otawara city, featuring the wooden buildings and gardens typical of Japanese monasteries. The complex includes meditation halls, residential quarters for monks, and landscaped grounds that reflect traditional design principles.
The temple was established as a family monastery and gained significance through its connection to Taizan Maezumi, who began his monastic training there in childhood. This historical role shaped its later importance as a bridge between Japanese Zen practice and Western practitioners worldwide.
The temple functions as a working meditation space where daily Zen practice shapes how the grounds feel and how visitors experience the silence. People from different backgrounds come here to participate in or observe traditional Buddhist rituals that have continued for generations.
The temple is accessible by train on the Tohoku Main Line, which stops at Otawara Station in the city center. From the station, visitors can use local buses or walk through the city streets to reach the grounds.
Though smaller and less famous than other Zen centers, this temple produced teachers who later shaped Western Buddhist practice across the Pacific. Visitors rarely realize they are walking through the origins of a movement that would deeply influence Buddhism in America.
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