Join us for the event Bookbinding: Create your own one-sheet "Magic Book" on Thursday, July 23rd at 6 p.m.!

In this online session, Ms. Sheila Asato will share her art with us and talk about how book arts have allowed her to integrate her experiences of living in Japan, England and the United States. She will also talk about how she has used the arts as a healing force to help others who are having vivid dreams after challenging events such as the great earthquake and tsunami in Japan. 

After her presentation, she will lead us through some simple paperfolding exercises to create our own one-sheet “magic book”. 

Using only a single sheet of paper and scissors, we will learn how to make folded books with multiple pages that are fun and a delight to share with others. If you would like to try this, please have at hand several sheets of printer paper (8.5"×11") and a pair of scissors.

This is a great opportunity not only to learn about book art  but also to create your own "magic book". Please sign up today!

While this event is free to join, we would greatly appreciate your donation.

Ms. Sheila Asato, M.A. is a visual artist deeply influenced by dreams, Japan and the natural world. Her favorite media include drawing, watercolor, photography, Japanese calligraphy and virtual reality, which she combines to create unique handmade books, paintings and textile designs. Sheila teaches online, as well as at the Minnesota Center for Book Arts. She also lectures on creativity, dreaming and health at the University of Minnesota. Bicultural and bilingual in English and Japanese, she returns annually to Japan to teach, reconnect with friends and meander along the back roads of cities and the countryside with her camera, gathering ideas and inspiration for new projects when she returns to Minnesota. Check  the website, Monkey Bridge Arts, to learn more.

We are looking forward to seeing you there!

How do we find meditative moments in our everyday life?

This question is the main topic of this event session. Meditation is often described in the West as a means to calm our mind or to achieve some internal blissful state.  How do we navigate this chaotic time in our lives and our world without ignoring our interconnectedness to it all? We will explore what meditation and internal reflection can mean from a Jodo Shinshu and general Buddhist perspective through this event.

Please join us for the event Meditative Moments in Everyday Life on Thursday, August 6th at 6 p.m.!

Reverend Todd Tsuchiya and Reverend Chiemi Renshin Onimura Bly will come from Twin Cities Buddhist Association Sangha and talk for us about how to find meditative moments in our everyday life.

Please sign up today!

Twin Cities Buddhist Association Sangha (TCBA):

TCBA was founded in 1946 by Japanese American incarceration camp survivors and Military Intelligence Service veterans from Fort Snelling. They are a Jodo Shinshu group based in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota, affiliated with the Buddhist Churches of America. Jodo Shinshu is part of the Pure Land tradition and has its origins in Japan in the 13^th century. It developed as a teaching that included all of society, not just the educated elite of the day. It arrived in the US in 1899 along with the Japanese immigrant community. They currently meet every other week via Zoom but in non-pandemic times they meet monthly at the Midtown YWCA in Minneapolis.  They also hold monthly discussion sessions in Japanese using Zoom. For more information, please check the TCBA website from here.

While this event is free to join, we would greatly appreciate your donation.

Reverend Todd Tsuchiya 

Todd is a Minister’s Assistant at TCBA and ordained in the Jodo Shinshu Nishi Hongwanji tradition in Kyoto, Japan and part of the Buddhist Churches of America.  He was born and raised in Minnesota and is a retired dentist. You may have seen Todd playing the taiko in past Kogen Taiko performances and the shinobue (transverse bamboo flute) at JASM events.

Reverend Chiemi Renshin Onikura Bly

Raised in a Jodo Shinshu temple family in Fukuoka Japan, Chiemi graduated from a Jodo Shinshu high school and college. She moved to the United States in 2000. Chiemi has lived in Minnesota for 20 years. She teaches Japanese Language Arts and Social Studies to high school students at the Minneapolis Japanese School. Chiemi is ordained in the Jodo Shinshu Nishi Hongwanji tradition in 2016. She is an Assistant Minister of the Buddhist Church of America, and serves at the Twin Cities Buddhist Association.

We are looking forward to seeing you there!

Dear JASM friends,

We regret to inform you of the cancellation of the Obon Festival 2020. It has been officially cancelled due to the COVID-19 for everyone's safety. 

We understand that this change may cause great disappointment for you and we are also very sad about this news. We're looking forward to seeing you at the Obon Festival 2021.