You’ve probably seen the little desktop Zen gardens that are sold as a balm to the harried spirit of the modern corporate warrior. A wooden tray, some white sand, a few rocks and a tiny bamboo rake to make all those wonderfully even lines. In Kyoto you can see the original, the famous karesansui ...

Japan’s oldest Zen training monastery will be familiar to some readers through Lafcadio Hearn’s vivid descriptions in his 1894 book Glimpses of an Unfamiliar Japan. Founded in 1253 by the Chinese Zen Master Rankei Doryu, Kenchoji is the leading temple in Kamakura, long a center of Zen. The Zen ...