30/08/2022
Planning meeting with Gengo Akiba, Head Bishop of Soto Zen in North America, and his wife Yoshie Akiba, who is the owner of Yoshi's, the famous jazz club in Oakland, CA.
Yoshi-san grew up as an orphan and came to the US after marrying an officer from the US Army. She didn't feel that she fit well in the rich white community, and took off to Berkeley, later attending UC Berkeley to study Art and Music, eventually even getting a doctorate in Dance Therapy. At the same time she had opened a Japanese restaurant with some friends, where they started to offer jazz performances, and this became very successful as Yoshi's Jazz Club offering Japanese food. She encountered tough situations especially from the community, but she worked with them and made enormous contributions to the community, now even holding sessions for children at the jazz club.
The session title is "Compassion in a multi-cultural world" and we will be hearing Zen teachings from Osho-san and the diverse experiences from Yoshi.
Just talking with them is such a treat, so wonderful to see how they interact, playful and full of love. I would love for you all to see them!!
https://youtu.be/NvyV7YogSCw
https://www.zen20.jp/
My name is Yoshie. But my club is called Yoshi’s. It’s easier for Americans to say. When I was a little girl, I lived in an orphanage in Zushi, Japan. There was a U.S. naval base nearby with an officers’ club, and they invited us to Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving—all these special events. A...
