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Japan Talks
Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea in the south. The Japanese archipelago consists of four major islands—Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu—and thousands of smaller islands, covering 377,975 square kilometers (145,937 sq mi). Japan has a population of over 123 million as of 2025, making it the eleventh-most populous country. The capital of Japan and its largest city is Tokyo; the Greater Tokyo Area is the largest metropolitan area in the world, with more than 37 million inhabitants as of 2024. Japan is divided into 47 administrative prefectures and eight traditional regions. About three-quarters of the country's terrain is mountainous and heavily forested, concentrating its agriculture and highly urbanized population along its eastern coastal plains. The country sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire, making its islands prone to destructive earthquakes and tsunamis.
The first known habitation of the archipelago dates to the Upper Paleolithic, with the beginning of the Japanese Paleolithic dating to c. 36,000 BC. Between the fourth and sixth centuries, its kingdoms were united under an emperor in Nara, and later Heian-kyō. From the 12th century, actual power was held by military dictators (shōgun) and feudal lords (daimyō), and enforced by warrior nobility (samurai). After rule by the Kamakura and Ashikaga shogunates and a century of warring states, Japan was unified in 1600 by the Tokugawa shogunate, which implemented an isolationist foreign policy. In 1853, a United States fleet forced Japan to open trade to the West, which led to the end of the shogunate and the restoration of imperial power in 1868. In the Meiji period, Japan pursued rapid industrialization and modernization, as well as militarism and overseas colonization. In 1937, Japan invaded China, and in 1941 attacked the United States and European colonial powers, entering World War II as an Axis power. After suffering defeat in the Pacific War and two atomic bombings, Japan surrendered in 1945 and came under Allied occupation. Afterwards, the country underwent rapid economic growth and became one of the five earliest major non-NATO allies of the United States. Since the collapse of the asset price bubble in the early 1990s, Japan has experienced a prolonged period of economic stagnation, commonly known as the Lost Decades.
Japan is a constitutional monarchy with a bicameral legislature, the National Diet. A great power and the only Asian member of the G7, Japan has constitutionally renounced its right to declare war, but maintains one of the world's strongest militaries. A developed country with one of the world's largest economies by nominal GDP, Japan is a global leader in the automotive, robotics, and electronics industries, and has made significant contributions to science and technology. It has one of the world's highest life expectancies, though it is undergoing a population decline. Japan's culture is well known around the world, including its art, cuisine, film, music, and popular culture, which includes prominent animation, comics, and video game industries.
Title | Speaker | |
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The Good Friendship of Shitou, Matsu and Yaoshan Suzuki Roshi, Japan, Silence, Three Treasures, Bodhisattva Way |
Feb 01 2014 Afternoon No Abode Hermitage |
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Embodying Zen Beyond ThoughtSerial: RB-04170 Sesshin Practice, Time, Japan |
2014 Johanneshof |
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Navigating Edges in Zen PracticeSerial: RB-03794 Practice-Period_Talks Practice Period, Practice, Japan |
2014 Johanneshof |
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Zen Breaths: Path to EnlightenmentSerial: RB-04172 Sesshin Breath, Practice, Japan |
2014 Johanneshof |
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Integrating Western Views in ZenSerial: RB-04174 Sesshin Koan, Culture, Japan |
2014 Johanneshof |
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Evolving Spaces in Zen PracticeSerial: RB-02259 Seminar_Sangha_Dharma_Buddha Japan, Practice |
Mar 2013 Johanneshof |
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Embodied Zen: Space and PracticeSerial: RB-03813 Practice-Period_Talks Practice Period, Practice, Japan |
2013 Johanneshof |
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November 18th, 2012, Serial No. 04016 Bodhidharma, Japan, Emptiness |
Nov 18 2012 |
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Performative Time and Cultural PerceptionsSerial: RB-03129 Conference Time, Japan, Consciousness |
Oct 2012 |
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The Bodhisattva's Mind of No AbodeThe Bodhisattva’s Mind of No Abode Buddha Mind, Money, Japan |
Sep 01 2012 Morning No Abode Hermitage |
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Transcending Identity Through Mindful PracticeSerial: RB-01684I Seminar_The Self,_Continuity_and_Discontinuity Japan, Time |
Sep 2012 Hannover |
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Facing Change and Realizing Peace Commitment, difficulty, Japan, Funeral |
Aug 02 2012 The Yoga Room |
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Zen Words: Shaping Reality Through LanguageSerial: RB-03974 Seminar_Zen_and_Psychotherapy Ceremony, Japan |
Jun 2012 Rastenberg |
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Shadow Dance: Zen's Liminal JourneySerial: RB-03536 Seminar_Challenges_of_Lay-Buddhism Time, Suzuki Roshi, Japan |
Feb 2012 Johanneshof |
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Embracing In-Betweenness Through MaSerial: RB-03534 Seminar_Challenges_of_Lay-Buddhism Time, Japan |
Feb 2012 Johanneshof |
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Zen's Western Blossoms: Evolving PracticesSerial: RB-03859 Seminar_Zen_in_the_Western_World Ceremony, Practice, Japan |
Sep 2011 Hannover |
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Transforming the Mind of Delusion Karmic Consciousness, Mahayana, Abhidharma, Japan |
Jul 14 2011 The Yoga Room |
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Beyond Words: Embracing Bodily SpaceSerial: RB-03485 Practice-Period_Talks Practice, Japan, Zazen |
Mar 27 2011 Crestone Zen Mountain Center |
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March 20th, 2011, Serial No. 03835 Generosity, Pain, Japan |
Mar 20 2011 |
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Japan CatastropheSerial: BZ-02165 Earthquake, Tsunami, Nuclear Fallout, One-Day Sitting Karma, Japan, Current Events, Karma, Repentance, Vow, Renewal, Composure, Interview,... |
Mar 19 2011 Berkeley Zen Center |
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Zen Stories Lineage, Koan, Intimacy, Mahayana, Japan |
Mar 17 2011 The Yoga Room |
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Dynamic Dimensions: Activity Over EntitySerial: RB-01682D Seminar_What_Is_the_World? Japan, Culture, Buddhism |
Mar 2011 Johanneshof |
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Intimacy with Birth and Death: The 39th Yearly Memorial for Suzuki Roshi Tassajara Zen Mountain Center, Commitment, Suzuki Roshi, Intimacy, Japan |
Dec 04 2010 Afternoon No Abode Hermitage |
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Zen Pathways: Mind, Body, InstitutionSerial: RB-04028 Sesshin Buddha, Practice, Japan |
Oct 10 2010 Johanneshof |
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Zen Mind, World AlignmentSerial: RB-04029 Sesshin Practice, Japan, Culture |
Oct 10 2010 Johanneshof |
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Zen's Random Voyage of DiscoverySerial: RB-02878 Practice-Period_Talks Practice, Time, Japan |
Feb 27 2010 Crestone Zen Mountain Center |
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For a Sentient Being to be a Sentient Being is just not to Move Priest, Japan, Lay, Lotus Sutra, Vimalakirti |
Nov 14 2009 Afternoon No Abode Hermitage |
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November 14th, 2009, Serial No. 03691 Priest, Ceremony, Japan |
Nov 14 2009 |
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Yoga and MeditationOSB Cam, Yoga, Meditation, Breath, Posture, Bell, Japan |
Jun 2009 4 of 4 New Camaldoli Hermitage |
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May 24th, 2009, Serial No. 03661 Suzuki Roshi, Japan, Tassajara |
May 24 2009 |
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Zen and the Art of Cutting Mindfulness, Japan |
May 11 2009 |
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2008.10.04-serial.00198 War, Japan |
Oct 04 2008 |
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2008.10.02-serial.00196 Practice, Japan |
Oct 02 2008 |
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Envisioning a Western Buddhism EvolutionSerial: RB-01670A Seminar_The_New_Buddhism Buddhism, Culture, Japan |
Oct 2008 Johanneshof |
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Zen's Western Awakening and TransformationSerial: RB-01670C Seminar_The_New_Buddhism Japan, Buddhism, Practice |
Oct 2008 Johanneshof |
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Entering and Embodying Truth Soto Zen, Japan, Bodhisattva Precepts, Perfect Wisdom |
Jul 29 2008 The Yoga Room |
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March 24th, 2008, Serial No. 03558 Japan, Priest, Suzuki Roshi |
Mar 24 2008 |
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2008, Serial No. 03614 Ceremony, Japan, American |
2008 |
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Awakening Perception Through Mindful MovementSerial: RB-01662C Sesshin Japan, Practice, Mindfulness |
Oct 2007 Johanneshof |
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Beyond Thinking: Zen and SpaceSerial: RB-01657C Seminar_Dogen_Statements_with Norman Fisher Dogen, Breath, Japan |
Jul 2007 Johanneshof |
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The Light of Buddha's Wisdom - Precepts of CompassionBuddha sheds the light of wisdom on the true nature of suffering, liberation, and the human mind, on the teachings of compassion, moral causation, and the whole phenomenal universe. This retreat... Japan, Separation, Suzuki Roshi, Duality, Heart Sutra |
May 05 2007 Part 4 Mount Madonna Center |
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The Light of Buddha's Wisdom - Precepts of CompassionBuddha sheds the light of wisdom on the true nature of suffering, liberation, and the human mind, on the teachings of compassion, moral causation, and the whole phenomenal universe. This retreat... Thich Nhat Hanh, Commitment, Letting Go, Japan |
May 05 2007 Part 5 Mount Madonna Center |
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Multiverse Identities in Shared SpacesSerial: RB-04002 Seminar_Sangha Japan, Time, War |
May 2007 Johanneshof |
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Mountains, Rivers, Mindful TransformationSerial: RB-02896 Practice-Period_Talks Japan, Practice, Time |
Feb 12 2007 Crestone Zen Mountain Center |
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Awareness Beyond Consciousness BoundariesSerial: RB-01651A Seminar_How_does_Buddha_Show_Up? Consciousness, Buddhism, Japan |
Nov 2006 Hannover |
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Rooted Unity: Zen's Sacred ConnectionSerial: RB-03110 Seminar_Heartfelt_Desire Priest, Work, Japan |
Jun 2006 Rastenberg |
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Experiencing Zen: Beyond PerceptionSerial: RB-01650E Sesshin Practice, Koan, Japan |
May 2006 Johanneshof |
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2006.01.30-serial.00081 Practice, Buddha, Japan |
Jan 30 2006 |
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2006.01.29-serial.00007 Dogen, Buddha, Japan |
Jan 29 2006 |
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The Transformative Power of AttentionSerial: RB-01647E Sesshin Japan, Time |
Oct 2005 Johanneshof |