"Zen" gets Buddhist honours and blessings at its Japanese premiere

by Chris MaGee

In November we told you about the epic historical bio-pic "Zen" about Dōgen, the Buddhist monk who introduced Soto Zen to Japan in the 13th-century. The film, helmed by director Banmei Takahashi and starring kabuki actor Kantarou Nakamura (above) as Dōgen got a special advance premiere yesterday at the Myôgon Temple, Toyokawa Inari in Tokyo. Seeing as the film dramatizes the life of one of Japan's most revered religious and philosophical figures the screening was proceeded by Buddhist gongs, blessing and a short meditation demo for the audience which was made up of journalists from as far away as the U.S. and Spain.

"Zen", distributed by Kadokawa Pictures, gets a wide domestic release starting January 10th. Thanks to Variety Japan for details on the premiere and Sanspo.com for the above image.