Greetings from Japan

Greetings from Japan!

As my extended visit to Japan this Fall is nearing its end, I am compelled to revisit the topic of my last year’s December newsletter.

In Japan, there is a very strong gift giving culture as demonstrated by the multitude of souvenir shops you can encounter at each place of visit, where most items, especially specialty food ones, are pre-packaged as gifts of different sizes, wrapped in beautiful paper, ready to be offered as presents.

But like most things in Japanese culture, there is also the paradoxical practice of Muzai no Shichisei or ‘the seven gifts that require no possessions’. These, listed in the back of my Shikoku 88 temple pilgrimage map book, are:

• Gensei: the gift of gentle eyes, looking at others with kindness.

• Wagansei: the gift of a smile and kind expressions when you meet others.

• Gonjisei: the gift of words, speaking to others with kindness.

• Shinsei: the gift of the skills and services that we are able to offer.

• Shinsei: the gift of our heart, touching others with love.

• Shōyasei: the gift of a resting place, offering others a place to sit and rest.

• Bōyasei: the gift of shelter and lodging, providing others with a room or warm place to stay.