Japanese Survival: Zen, Shinto & Perfectionism

New York, N.Y. It is with a profound sense of sadness that I witness from afar the devastation of Japan, her people and countryside.   I studied in the north of the main island of Honshu in the years before the Shinkanzen express train to Morioka in Iwate Province, and then continued my studies at Waseda University in Tokyo.   The people I befriended taught me about life, death, Zen, Shinto, love of family, respect for community, and love of nature.   The Japanese people have perfected perfectionism. My only consolation is that no people on earth are better prepared for the worst than the nation of Japan.

Below are links to stories I wrote while living there from 1980-81:

Notes from Japan: A Rural Village in Iwate Province

Notes from Japan: Hitchhiking Through the Storm to Hokkaido

Notes From Japan: From Harajuku to Waseda

Notes from Japan: Shinomori - Mediating in the Woods

Notes from Japan: A Rural Village in Iwate Province

Notes from Japan: Hitchhiking Through the Storm to Hokkaido

Notes from Japan: Japanese and English Language Very Far Apart

Notes from Japan: Living with a Former Samurai Family

Notes from Japan: Fat American (Me!) Races 500 Junior High Students

Notes from Japan: From Zen Life in the Country to Tokyo – Help!

See also: Jim Luce ( ジムルース ) on Japan and Japanese-Americans

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