KAGOSHIMA -- Hongwanji Kagoshima Betsuin temple, a branch of the Nishihongwanji group of temples, displays a quote from various celebrities and anime characters related to Buddhist teachings on its bulletin board each month.
June's quote was from Asuka Shikinami Langley, a character of the Neon Genesis Evangelion anime series.
Previously, the temple only featured quotes from Shinran, the founder of the Jodo Shinshu Buddhism sect, and phrases from the sect's Buddhism sutras.
These quotes from popular figures are also shared via social media and have been gaining popularity online.
Asuka's featured quote, when translated into English, says, "I had no idea how comfortable it can be to talk to someone."
The temple's priests said that they chose this quote because they would like people to rediscover how valuable conversations and connections with others are, as stay-at-home orders in response to the novel coronavirus outbreak are gradually being lifted.
The temple began featuring the quotes back in February, with a highly popular online contest called "Shine! Temple Bulletin Board Grand Prix", in which photos of phrases displayed on the bulletin boards of temples were posted online and awards were given to the most unique ones.
Seeing the high popularity of the online contest, the temple began to feature more quotes to help more people feel as though Buddhist temples are more relevant to their daily lives.
Th temple's eleven priests gather about 50 to 60 candidate quotes, and discuss which one to choose for the month.
One of the quotes that garnered especially big responses was one from Shinnosuke Nohara, the main character of the Crayon Shinchan franchise, which was featured on the bulletin board in April.
The quote which translates as, "When you do something wrong, you have to say, sorry.' Everyone at my kindergarten does it," attracted about 2,000 page views on Instagram. One of the comments left on the post said, "That really opened my eyes."
Kokai Oshima, 27, a priest of the temple, said, "We'd like to change the negative image people have of temples being places reserved only for memorial services and funerals and give off more of a bright impression. We'd like people to feel that temples have more of a presence in their daily lives."
The temple plans to change the featured quote each month.
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