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Midwest Buddhist Temple

4.4 (16 reviews)

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yeah, I even got married there
Tenzo D.

First, the low reviews are rating the 'Ginza Festival' not the temple. This is kind of like rating France on a bike ride. That aside read YAS M.'s review. I could not have done a better job of describing it. So I'll stick with my personal experiance. I have a doctorate in religion. This came about not from intent, but rather from doing extensive research on all different religions. In the perhaps hundred places I have attended service this place resonated with me the most. I can't explain it fully, but I feel at peace here the most. I encourage you to drop by for SUnday services at 10:30 on Sundays. It's very low pressure and friendly. Anyway, I love the place, the people and the treachings. I could not give it a high enough rating.

Namaste : Namu Ama Dabu
Rohan D.

Buddhism varies quite a bit by nationality, sect, ethnicity, and geography. This is a Japanese-American Buddhist temple of the Jodo-Shinshu "Pure Land" sect, founded by Issei and Nissei Japanese-Americans fleeing the growing scapegoating racism of the American West during WWII. The American Midwest was relatively more tolerant, but some of the idiosyncrasies of the practices of this sect made blending in with a minimum of conflict possible as well. The temple is set up more like an American Protestant Church with Japanese architectural influence, rather than a traditional Japanese mainstream temple - you keep your shoes on and sit in Western style pews, instead of monks, ministers conduct the services on Sunday mornings, Dharma talks mimic homilies or sermons, the opening chant is the only Japanese for the English services, and some of the hymns are actually Protestant traditional hymns with adjusted words. The Pure Land metaphor of nirvana sounds like Christian heaven, the pseudo-deification of Lord Buddha can sound superficially like references to the Judeo-Christian God. Thus, I recommend a visit to this temple to tourists, visitors, travelers, especially those interested in comparative religion, immigration history, cross-cultural studies, and members of any other Buddhist group. Over the years, the members of this temple have come to resemble the "dual congregation" pattern described by Paul Numrich (Old Wisdom in the New World, 1999) there's the ethnic Japanese-Americans who come here for the holidays, the cultural classes for children, the food events (for example breakfast for holiday volunteers is often fried baloney and short-grain steamed white rice, Internment Camp food a generation or two later), but there's also the White converts who tend to pay much closer attention to the Dharma talk and Buddhist philosophy presented by the learned ministers (with less interest in the ethnic sub-cultural aspects). I also recommend the temple as a place to visit if you're enrolled in a college or graduate comparative religion, anthropology or sociology of religion class. I'm going to warn you that at the end of service they ask visitors to stand up and say hi, but you really don't have to if you're embarrassed, just stay seated and look down. Look for the annual Ginza Holiday festival in August, the annual fundraiser featuring delicious Terriyaki chicken (or vegetarian Boca burgers), and Mochi-Tsuki in December. Mochi is a Japanese and Hawai'ian-Japanese dessert that is an acquired taste, but the pounding required in preparation is surprisingly therapeutic and helps Buddhists be non-violent. You have to try it out to understand. Check the website for services (not quite every Sunday, and one service is in Japanese), and classes.

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13 years ago

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Review Highlights - Midwest Buddhist Temple

. For the past 59 years the Midwest Buddhist Temple has held the Ginza Festival in mid August

Mentioned in 5 reviews

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Midwest Buddhist Temple - buddhist_temples - Updated May 2026

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