Can you guess what this signboard is for? You may think that the signboard is for an anime festival or something, but it is not. This is for a Buddhist temple called Ryoho-ji!
"The Citizen Of Hachioji" some rights reserved. flickr
Ryoho-ji, commonly known as “Moe-dera”, is located in Hachio-ji city, suburb of Tokyo. For the wide range publicity, they are using an anime girl named “Toro Benten (goddess)” as the mascot character. Moe (pronounced [mo.e]) is a Japanese slang word used by otaku people referring to a strong attraction to something specific. And dera simply means a temple.
Now, I want you to watch some amazing videos.
1) The theme song of the temple.
2) The recitation of the Buddha’s life story
3) A scene from a festival held at Ryoho-ji
What do you think?
Me?
I couldn’t believe my own eyes at first. But as far as I have learned from the website, it seems like they are never joking; rather, they are quite serious! If you are interested in both Buddhism and anime, you should visit Ryoho-ji (^^)/
Source: Ryoho-ji Website
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