My main Zen teacher in the 1990s was Hogen Yamahata, known as Hogen-san to his students, who travelled regularly from Japan to conduct sesshin, and in the late 1990s started to spend more of his time in Australia. I was planning a visit to Japan in 1995 and hoped to visit Hogen-san at his temple, Chogen-ji, near Mt Fuji. Apart from the fact that I found out he was actually visiting Australia at the time I planned to go to Japan, his long-term student Peter Thompson advised me that Hogen-san’s temple was only a small family temple with one or two students at most. and that it would be better for me to visit Bukkokuji, where Hogen-san had trained with his main teacher, Harada Tangen Roshisama. So in 1995, I went to Bukkokuji and spent a week training with Roshisama.
The entrance to Bukkokuji, a Zen monastery in Obama, Japan.
Harada Tangen Roshisama in the early 1990s.
The Abbot of Bukkokuji, Harada Tangen, is the only surviving successor of Harada Daiun Roshi (1871 – 1961), the Zen monk who reintroduced koan introspection to Soto Zen and launched the Harada-Yasutani lineage with the Maezumi, Kapleau, Yamada and Aitken branches now so influential in the West.
I slept in an annex off this room on a thin mattress on the floor – rolled up and put away each day.
One of the senior practitioners, Jikusan (Patricio Goycoolea), was a Chilean photographer who came to Bukkokuji in 1989 for a magazine article and ended up staying for 10 years to train with Tangen Roshisama. It was Jikusan who persuaded Tangen Roshisama to allow me to stay at Bukkokuji, and gave me information and advice while I was there.
With Jikusan above the cemetery beside Bukkokuji.
I also got to know Frederic, a French physicist, who had been at Bukkokuji for five years. There were around 30 practitioners living at Bukkokuji, 20 men and 10 women. Eight were gaijin, including an Australian woman Rae, who somewhat surreptitiously sought me out for news from Australia.
Frederic
We rose at 3.50 am each morning. The day included around 10 hours of zazen and other forms of meditation, an exercise period and a run, a 2 hour work period after lunch, and ended at 9 pm – when the smart practitioners went straight to sleep.
The main zendo
Two monks tying on their sandals for takuhatsu (ritual begging)
Monks departing for takuhatsu
I returned to Japan in 1997 and spent some time in Tokyo and in Kyoto, visiting a number of zen monasteries.
Contemplating the rock garden at Ryoanji Temple in Kyoto
I also visited several Zen temples at Kamakura south of Tokyo, including Kencho-ji. Built in 1253, it is the oldest Zen training monastery in Japan, and the head of the Gosan (the five “mountain” monasteries of Kamakura).
In the hojo at Kencho-ji
Also at Kamakura is the Dai-Butsu. Cast in 1252, it is a 120 ton bronze image of Amida Buddha. The surrounding temple was destroyed by a tsunami in 1498 and the Dai-Butsu has been in the open air ever since.
The Dai-Butsu at Kamakura
I also did some Rinzai Zen training at the Tesshukai dojo in suburban Tokyo during my visit in 1997. A photo of Tesshu (1836-1888) hangs in the entrance. Tesshu was an influential Zen teacher and also the most outstanding swordsman of the 19th century, founding the Muto Ryu school of swordsmanship.
Entrance to the Tesshukai dojo. A photo of Tesshu hangs on the wall.
Tesshukai dojo
Mountains and rivers 
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Hi, any idea if Bukkokuji still has an activity community of practitioners? I currently live at a Zen monastery in Japan and am curious about what else is out there. Based on your description it is a place I want to look into, and maybe visit if possible, but you wrote this article some time ago.
I couldn’t find much else about Bukkokuji online which surprises me.
Thanks for any info,
Oliver.
Oliver, Harada Tangen Roshisama died on 12 March 1918 and I do not know who succeeded him or whether there is still an active community of practitioners. Roshisama was ususual in being very open to non-Japanese students (at least if they were serious) and to women as well as men. There are certainly students who keep his memory and teaching alive. There is a Facebook account for Harada Tangen Roshi which I follow, and from time to time there are posts of photos and teachings. My main teacher Hogen Yamahata has retired and is no longer actively teaching, though there are Zen groups in Australia led by some of his students. I am now living in Europe and no longer in touch with the Australian groups. Sorry I cannot be of more help. Good luck, Colin.
Hi Oliver and Colin. Bukkoku-ji still continues as a practice place after Tangen Roshi’s death. There are about 4 monks and a few lay practitioners continuing the same schedule and sesshins, but of course it is not the same as when Roshi-sama was alive and teaching. But they accept foreigners to stay and practice with them, and some monks speak English. Just give them a call, you can find the number through google.
Also, a book with Tangen Roshi’s teachings has just come out with Shambhala Publications under the title “Throw Yourself into the House of Buddha,” if you would be interested. All the best, Kogen.
Kogen, thanks for this update and for bringing the book to my attention. I have ordered a copy. I have some cassette tapes of Belenda’s translated talks that were given to me in the mid 90s when I was at Bukkokuji. And I still listen to them from time to time. My brief time with Roshisama had a profound impact on me, even with our language limitations. Very best wishes, Colin
Hi Colin, the base material for the book was from Belenda’s translations, just checked and corrected against original tapes in Japanese. And yes, we were all lucky to have crossed paths with Roshi-sama!
All the best
Kogen
Hi Colin
There’s a mountain seat ceremony at Bukkokuji 11-13 May 24: perhaps of interest.
Gassho
Rev. Myoko Ratajczak