Temple seeks commercial enlightenment

Photo: 123rf.com

Buddhism may be about detachment from the earthly and material world, but sometimes you just have to get with it, like the temple in Eiheiji, Japan, which is investing in developments aimed at attracting tourists.

DEEP in a forest near Japan’s western shore, a 13th century Buddhist temple where Steve Jobs once dreamed of becoming a Zen monk has teamed up with a Tokyo skyscraper builder to seek the commercial enlightenment of foreign tourist dollars.