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Meet our advisory team! |
Kobo Ishigami
14th abbot of Saifukuji in Wakayama Kobo Ishigami was born March 29, 1976 in Wakayama, Japan, graduated from Aichi Gakuin University, and practiced at Eiheiji. He also studied and practiced okesa sewing with Kobun Okamoto sensei, a disciple of Kodo Sawaki Roshi. Okesa sewing and study 1999 Had an opportunity to take a look at Dogen Zenji’s okesa while practicing at Eiheiji. 2000 Started to sew nyoho-e rakusu following the instruction in Kesa no Kenkyu by Echu Kyuma. 2006 Attended the kesa sewing group at Keikyu-an in Yoshino, Nara. Kobun Okamoto sensei taught him to sew 7-jo okesa. 2009 Decided to re-start okesa sewing after reading the book Commentary on Shobogenzo Kesakudoku by Yaoko Mizuno. Started to visit Okamoto sensei’s sewing group at her temple, Joshukuji, in Nagoya. Finished his first nyoho-e 7-jo okesa. 2010 Started to sew 15-jo funzoe under the guidance of Okamoto sensei. 2011 Finished the 15-jo funzoe and wore it at his Mountain Seat Ceremony at Saifukuji. 2012 Started Fukudenkai (okesa sewing group) at Saifukuji. 2015 Finished 9-jo okesa (kangaisui style). 2017 Attended the lecture on Shobogenzo Kesakudoku by Rev. Keishi Miyagawa at Eiheiji and took part in discussions about okesa sewing during the lecture. Continued to sew nyoho-e style rakusu, 7-jo okesa and shosan-e (miniature okesa). 2020 7-jo okesa with Bird Feet stitch. Kobun Okamoto sensei passed away. 2022 Performed jue-shiki (okesa receiving ceremony) for a member of the sewing group at Saifukuji. 
Koun Franz, Thousand Harbors Zen in Halifax, Nova Scotia
Koun came to Halifax from Japan, where he trained, taught, and translated at traditional monasteries and temples. From 2006 to 2010, he also served as resident priest of the Anchorage Zen Community in Alaska. Some of his writings on Buddhist practice can be found at Nyoho Zen and One Continuous Mistake; many of his talks are available on the THZ Podcast. A former board member for the Association of Soto Zen Buddhists and Soto Zen Buddhist Association, he is recognized by the Soto school in Japan as a kokusai fukyoshi, or international teacher. Watch for more !We've invited additional experts and their info is coming soon.
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Coordinators
Yuko Okumura
Teacher of nyoho sewing of Buddha's robe, Sanshin Zen Community in Bloomington, IN Yuko started to practice zazen when she was 16 and later went to Komazawa University to study Buddhism. During her time there, she had an opportunity to learn nyoho-e style sewing. She received lay precepts from Kin-ei Otogawa Zenji at Sojiji in Japan in 1977. After being married to Shohaku Okumura in 1983, she lived at Antaiji for one year to study okesa sewing. Since Sanshinji's establishment in Bloomington, she has been helping lay people to sew their rakusu and ordained people to sew their okesa. In 2018 she led an online kesa study group where she shared the English translation of the book Study of Kesa by Kyuma Echu. 
Hoko Karnegis
Senior dharma teacher, Sanshin Zen Community in Bloomington, IN Hōkō succeeded to the leadership of Sanshin in June, 2023. She was ordained as a novice by Shohaku Okumura in 2005, and she completed her shuso hossen that same year at Kogetsu-an in Shiga, Japan. She received dharma transmission in September, 2012 and completed zuise at Eiheiji and Sojiji in November of that year. She served as communications director at Hokyoji Zen Practice Community in southern Minnesota from 2013 to 2016 and as interim practice director at Milwaukee Zen Center from 2011 to 2013. She has served as an adjunct instructor at Lakeland College in Sheboygan, WI, where she taught Eastern Religious Traditions in the classroom and online, and now teaches Zen through Ivy Tech Community College's lifelong learning program. She is recognized by Sotoshu as nito kyoushi (second-rank teacher) and as a practitioner of baika, a type of Japanese Buddhist hymn created by Sotoshu in 1952. She has participated in nyoho-e sewing in both Japan and the US. |