Summer 2023 Newsletter: Visitors to Chozen-ji

Daiko Matsuyama Osho

For three days in July, Daiko Matsuyama Osho, the deputy head priest of Taizo-in at Daihonzan Myoshin-ji, a Rinzai Zen headquarters temple in Kyoto, visited Chozen-ji with his family. While here, Matsuyama Osho joined us for zazen and okyo, sharing some of the commonalities and differences between how we train in Hawaii versus in Japan.

On Friday, July 21, the Matsuyama family enjoyed a tour of the State Capitol by Representative Jackson Sayama. That evening, Daiko joined Chozen-ji head priest Michael Kangen Roshi for a well-attended talk story event about Daiko's interesting life and path to becoming a Zen priest at Taizo-in.

Zenko Heshiki Sensei

In late 2022, Zenko Heshiki Sensei delivered his final teisho at Chozen-ji: “My Search for Karate: The Hand That Emanates From The Void”. Heshiki Sensei founded the Chozen-ji school of Kenpo Karate and trained in Zen under Tanouye Rotaishi.

This Spring, the video was screened to a small audience that included several of Heshiki Sensei’s old students, including some who had flown in from New York City for the event. You can watch the teisho here on YouTube.

Jeong Kwan Sunim

On May 2, Jeong Kwan Sunim returned to Chozen-ji for a celebratory dinner. This was the first time that Jeong Kwan Sunim had been able to travel to Hawaii since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Jeong Kwan Sunim was accompanied by Korean Tea Master Yoon Hee Kim and three students from Korea, and a wonderful dinner was prepared by Yumiko Sayama and well known ceramicist and restauranteur Nanzan Ito, who was living in at Chozen-ji.