The priest writing the words on a paper strip with a brush

The Master's Ink: Defining Your Life Philosophy with a Temple Priest

From the conversation to the calligraphy you are given.

Kobe, Japan

90 minutes

¥12,000 / person

6 people per session

Conducted in English

Full refund until 27 September

Overview

In a quiet tatami room, a small group sits with a priest who still serves at a temple in Japan.

Over tea and a Japanese sweet, you talk with him, and take time to look back at the life you have lived and ahead at the one still to come. At the end he writes out, in his own hand, the words he has chosen for you, and gives them to you.

It is not something sightseeing will put in front of you. We hope it becomes more than a memory of the trip, and leaves some small change in your life.

The Altar

In many Japanese homes there is a wooden cabinet with doors. It is called a butsudan.

Inside are the names of the family's dead, written on tablets. The doors are opened in the morning. Rice, water, a stick of incense. Something is said to someone who is not there. The doors are closed at night.

It is not a shrine and it is not a decoration. It is the place in the house where the dead are kept, and it is opened every day for as long as someone is left to open it.

When no one is left, a priest is called. He performs a rite that takes the spirit out of the object.

After that it is not an altar. It is a cabinet.

The Day

0:00 – 0:05

A bell is struck in the quiet of the temple, and its sound is left to fade. The noise of the day and the tiredness of travelling are set down here. You sit facing the priest, he welcomes you, and you meet his eyes. This is where the trust the rest of the day rests on begins.

0:05 – 0:20

The priest speaks about impermanence, the Buddhist understanding that everything passes, and about kuyo, the practice of offering thanks for every encounter and every experience. He puts both in terms of how a person lives now. You hear how Japan thinks about life and death, and what that asks of the mind, from a priest in a working temple rather than from a book.

0:20 – 1:00

Over good tea and a seasonal Japanese sweet, taken slowly, the conversation proper begins. The priest asks what you have held most valuable in the life you have lived so far, and what you want to keep hold of on the road ahead. You take your time putting your own thoughts and memories into words. He listens closely, and what comes out is often something you had not yet said to yourself.

1:00 – 1:10

Out of that conversation the priest arrives at the words that belong to you, and explains what they carry and what the teaching behind them means. Then, in front of you, he steadies his breath and writes them. What was said between you takes a form that exists only once.

1:10 – 1:20

The finished pieces are set out together. The priest reads a sutra over them and rings the bell, a blessing for the words themselves and for the safety of the life and the journey still ahead of you. At the end, photographs are taken with him.

1:20 – 1:30

Once the ink is dry, the piece is placed in its box and handed to you by the priest with both hands. What you looked at again in the conversation goes with you as something you can hold. He sees you off, and you leave with it.

The priest writing the words, 1:00 – 1:10

The Priest

Location

Design and Creative Center Kobe (KIITO), Room 101

2-2 Onohama-cho, Chuo-ku, Kobe 651-0082, Japan

神戸市中央区小野浜町2-2　デザイン・クリエイティブセンター神戸　101

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Sannomiya Station, on foot

20 min

Sannomiya Station, by Port Loop bus

4 min, then arrive

Sannomiya-Hanadokei-mae Station, on foot

10 min

Kyoto Station

about 75 min

Osaka Station

about 40 min

Booking

Date

Sunday, 4 October 2026

Morning begins 11:006 places

Afternoon begins 14:006 places

Fee

¥12,000 per person, tax included

Applications opening soon

We will announce the opening date on this page. Join the early access list and we will email you the booking link when reservations open. Registering is not a reservation and does not hold a place.

Join the early access list

Questions

Do I need to be Buddhist?

No. No faith or affiliation is required.

What if I need to cancel?

Cancellations received on or before 27 September 2026 are refunded in full. No refund is given for cancellations made on or after 28 September 2026.