Visiting Hakone Shrine: Subshrines & Komainu

Visiting Hakone Shrine: Subshrines & Komainu

(To read this series from the beginning, click here!) Hakone Shrine sits on the shore of Lake Ashi, in a grove of massive, sacred trees. The scents of pine and cedar follow visitors up the shaded paths. In winter months you may also catch a whiff of wood smoke in the air. After visiting the purification fountain, most visitors either head down to the water gate on the shore of Lake Ashi or up the steps to the shrine’s main worship hall.

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A Week of Gratitude – and Exciting Announcements!

A Week of Gratitude – and Exciting Announcements!

With the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday rapidly approaching (it’s Thursday, for those of you living abroad or domestic but lacking a calendar…) I have much to be thankful for this year: I’m thrilled to announce that I just signed a two-book contract for the seventh and eighth Hiro Hattori mystery novels, which will publish in 2019 and 2020. The sixth Hiro Hattori novel, Trial on Mount Kōya, is now finished–and scheduled for release by Seventh Street Books in July 2018. I completed the final edits this morning, and will be delivering the manuscript to my publisher before Thanksgiving Day! (Cause for celebration, indeed!) I’m traveling

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Betrayal at Iga

Betrayal at Iga

Autumn, 1565: After fleeing Kyoto, master ninja Hiro Hattori and Portuguese Jesuit Father Mateo take refuge with Hiro’s ninja clan in the mountains of Iga province. But when an ambassador from the rival Koga clan is murdered during peace negotiations, Hiro and Father Mateo must find the killer in time to prevent a war between the ninja clans. With every suspect a trained assassin, and the evidence incriminating not only Hiro’s commander, the infamous ninja Hattori Hanzo, but also Hiro’s mother and his former lover, the detectives must struggle to find the truth in a village where deceit is a

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The Graves of Okunoin

The Graves of Okunoin

Okunoin – “the temple at the end” is Japan’s largest cemetery. Sacred to the Shingon Buddhist sect (though non-Buddhists can be buried there, as long as they believe in the teachings of Kōbō Daishi), the cemetery has over 250,000 graves and monuments, the oldest of which date to at least the ninth century (if not before). The grave monument above dates to 1375, and marks the resting place of a Buddhist nun. According to legend, if you lay your ear to the stone, you can hear the screams of people suffering in hell. I admit, I did not try. While I’m not superstitious, there

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