May 2026

This month of May, so many flowers blossomed at Shinmeizan! And... so many guests came! Among them we wish to mention especially:

• On May 3, Fr. Renato Filippini, SX, with his father visiting from Italy.
• On May 9, a group of 11 faithful of the Hikarigaoka Parish of Fukuoka, for a retreat,

•  On May 15, Ven. Araki Seisho, Head of Jizoin temple (Soto-Zen Buddhism) of Amakusa, with his wife

• On May 18-19, Prof. Andrea Bartoli, of Columbia University, New York (USA), a member of the Saint Egidio Community, promotor of a project of uninterrupted prayer, both in the US and in Japan, held between August 6 and 9, the anniversary of the atom bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki,
• On May 19, Shinmeizan welcomed His Exc. Mons. Nakano, Bishop of Kagoshima, accompanied by a Priest of his diocese, a Protestant Pastor and Ven. Kamada, a Soto-Zen Buddhist monk engaged in a project of silent pilgrimages, carried out in various Countries, among places belonging to different religious traditions, as a call for harmony and peace in the world;

•  On May 26-29, Rev. Gustav Ericsson, Pastor of the Church of Sweden, came for a retreat at Shinmeizan

• On May 28, a group of 12 voluntiers, from various churches in the Kumamoto area, came to help in the work of gardening and maintenance of Shinmeizan!
• ...besides the 13 participants in the monthly retreat, held, as always, on the second Thursday of the month (this month for the 310^th time!)

Among the activities of interreligious dialogue carried out this month, special mention deserve:

• On May 22, the participation (via ZOOM) in a program of the Archdiocese of Lucca (Italy) celebrating its 300^th anniversary as an ‘Archdiocese’, as well as remembering its missionaries belonging to the Milano Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions (PIME), on its 100^th anniversary. Shinmeizan was asked to join the program, recalling especially the activity of Fr. Allegrino Allegrini, a member of PIME and a close friend of Shinmeizan, particularly committed to interreligious dialogue.
• On .May 24, Shinmeizan took part, also this year, in the celebration of the anniversary of the birth of Shinran, the founder of the “True Religion of the Pure Land” Buddhist School, at the temple Sainenji (Imari, Saga Pref.) of Ven. Ide Satoshi.