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Justin B. Stein

@justinbstein.bsky.social

Scholar of transnational Japanese religion / spiritual practice at Kwantlen Polytechnic University (BC, Canada) | Author of Alternate Currents: Reiki's Circulation in the Twentieth-Century North Pacific

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Justin B. Stein @justinbstein.bsky.social · 16/11/2024

On a recent trip to Mii-dera, I saw they frequent boast of being "one of the four largest temples in Japan" but I can't seem to figure out what the other three are... Internet searches keep pointing me to the 大和四寺 of Nara, which is clearly unrelated. Any ideas out there?

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Justin B. Stein @justinbstein.bsky.social · 15/11/2024

My latest article, on how how the concept of ki evolved in aikido, its relationship with religion in Japan and the United States, how it differs from the concept of ki as "energy," and some reflection on the connections and discontinuities between aikido and Reiki ... and it's open access!

brill.com

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Justin B. Stein @justinbstein.bsky.social · 15/11/2024

Just got back to Vancouver after an incredible trip to South Korea and Japan (I'm on a one-term sabbatical) where I learned so much, reconnected with friends and teachers, met some new ones, gave some book talks, and repped KPU Asian Studies :)

Me in my KPU Asian Studies shirt at Sujeongjeon Hall, the site in Gyeongbukgung Palace (in Seoul) where King Sejong (r. 1418–1450) sponsored a research institute that developed the Hangul script. My maroon shirt kind of matches the colour scheme of the Korean hall, which has maroon pillars and green shutters beneath multicoloured rafters.

At Hase-dera in Sakurai, Nara, the head temple of the Buzan school of Shingon Buddhism. Standing on a stone staircase beneath a long wooden structure with white lanterns that recedes into the distance.

Standing with a group of horseback archers in colourful outfits (and one shrine official in a blue robe) after they performed the Kasagake Shinji 笠懸神事 ritual at Kamigamo Shrine in Kyoto.

Posing with Kōya-kun, the cartoon monk mascot of Kōyasan (the headquarters of the Kōyasan sect of Shingon Buddhism) in front of the Kongōbuji Konpon-daitō 金剛峯寺根本大塔, an orange-and-white pagoda believed to be the centre of a massive three-dimensional mandala that extends to (and beyond?) the eight peaks of the mountain...

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Justin B. Stein @justinbstein.bsky.social · 15/11/2024

Hi everyone! I'm new to BlueSky and I'm not sure how much I'll post here (I mostly just lurked at the old place) but it's nice to see all of you smart, funny, compassionate people here doing your things! I have been doing some cool stuff recently, so I'll put up a few posts about that at least :)

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