SVSU Study Abroad

 Experience living at a Buddhist temple while exploring Japan's religious traditions in this 3-week, 3-credit course. Visits include temples and shrines in Kyoto and Shiga Prefecture.

Students will have the opportunity to enhance their basic understanding of Japanese culture while living and studying in Japan. The course will examine the principal features of Japan's religious traditions and describe their relationships to art, literature, and politics.

• Stay at Saikyo-ji, a Buddhist temple in Otsu, Japan!
• Over 1,000 years old, this temple located at the foot of Mt. Hiei serves as the headquarters of the Shinsei sub-sect of Tendai Buddhism. Students will have the unique opportunity to sleep on Japanese futon, eat traditional Japanese cuisine and experience Buddhist practices first-hand, including kyo chanting and zazen sitting meditation. Breakfasts and many dinners will be provided at the temple.
• Numerous field excursions to shrines and temples in Shiga and Kyoto prefectures
• Visist historic and scenic sites, such as Kyoto's Fushimi Inari Shrine (with its thousans of torii gates), Enryaku-ji (home to the Marathon Monks), Chikubushima ("Island of the Gods"), Ukimi-do (the floating temple) and Mii-dera (one of Japan's largest temples.

Program leader: For over 20 years, Professor Douglas Sjoquist has researched and taught about the religions of Japan. Much of his research has been conducted in Shiga Prefecture, where much of this program will be conducted. Professor Sjoquist will guide students through the history of Japan's religions, operating with the fundamental rationale that modern Japan can be best understood in light of its distinctive beliefs and traditions.