CY – Alum in Investment Banking

Meeting an alum who has devoted nearly her entire career to investment banking provided a unique perspective into a world I was tentatively considering as part of my future. Our conversation proved pivotal, reshaping my understanding of what a career in such a high-stakes field entails, and more profoundly, how it aligns with personal dispositions […]

LL – 1,000 flowers open

Sister Kathleen volunteers once a week in the Children’s Ward at the Tokyo Cancer Hospital. When she started, decades ago now, she was made to sign an agreement that she would not proselytize to her patients on their sick beds. As a medical professional, her job is to speak to children and families about their […]

LL – Peace, water, and the state

On Wednesday evening, 06/14, Sophia University held a symposium entitled “How can Japan, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) and the United Nations work together to advance their support for Afghanistan?” Featured were representatives of each of these organizations, two of whom had been flown out from Jena, Saudi Arabia for […]

LL – Zen in All Trades

In the mountains above Takamatsu, Roshi Daito Noda continues on as he has been for the last several decades. In brief, he is extending the temple, drawing upon the historical involvement of Buddhist institutions in communal life with a spirit of humble innovation. A pilgrimage lodging, a dojo, a special education school, several green houses, […]

BS – Interview #2: Confronting Challenges and Learning to Grow

April 1, 2023 For my second interview, I talked to a local software engineer at Wistron named Kelly Fan. She is originally from northern Taiwan and graduated most recently from National Taiwan Ocean University in Keelung, Taiwan, with studies in engineering sciences, information and communication, and motor communications. Her interest in computer science slowly developed […]

LL – Zen Stomach

Accounts of Zen eating  Even in the off season, Hayama’s Imperial Village is well-guarded. A combination of guards and police patrol the beach and the lazy commercial district where, on a late February afternoon, full-timers shuffle to and from the grocery store and retirees stroll. We are here to visit the Zen master’s second house, […]