Case Study: Soin Fujio and Vowz Bar (Tokyo, Japan)

In the suburbs of Yokosuka, Soin Fujio sits with a young man who’s lost his will to live. People in crisis come to his temple often – so often that this monk’s life has become a vigil. He says, “I don’t leave for more than 24 hours. If I stop for one day, I might lose someone.”

A lifelong monastic who worked as a banker to gain worldly experience, Rev. Fujio was moved to begin crisis care after the suicides of three friends. “People come to me with zero battery,” he says. “I ask questions to help them feel their body. I ask them, do you need heat? Water? Then we walk zazen together. Sometimes for three hours. I don’t let them leave until their battery is recharged. Then, I recharge my own.”

To do this work well, Rev. Fujio has innovated within his Rinzai Zen tradition. He’s combined his Zen practice with Tai Chi to support embodied healing. He invites people in his meditation groups to share how they are feeling after each sit. He trains young priests in counseling. And since Covid, he leads zazen in the metaverse. This is a fairly radical shift for the 400-year-old temple’s traditions, but these changes allow Rev. Fujio to be a more effective leader and spiritual care provider. He now co-chairs an association of monks across sects who are dedicated to addressing suicide, as well as serving on the suicide prevention committee for area public health centers where he collaborates with hospitals, police, boards of education, and legal experts.

Japan’s struggles with social isolation and suicide are well documented. Forty percent of young people report being profoundly lonely, and 1.5 million Japanese identify as hikikomori, having withdrawn from society completely for six months or more. To address these crises of spirit, innovators are finding new ways to foster belonging, or the experience of being known and loved. 

As the sun sets twenty miles north in Tokyo, another Buddhist monk is getting ready for work. Zennen is one of the bartenders at Vowz Bar in Tokyo’s low-rise Yotsuya neighborhood. For 20 years, Buddhist monks have welcomed young people to talk over cocktails with names like "form is emptiness,” and – at appointed times every evening – hear a short Dharma talk and chant sutras together. Zennen is tall, wearing gray robes and exuding gentleness and good humor. “We stand by,” he explains. “Often, we end up counseling them. So many young people struggle with parent-child relationship issues and a lack of self-esteem. We are here to support and guide.”

A majority of those aged 50 and under in Japan say they have no reason to visit a Buddhist temple. Japanese Buddhist institutions can be perceived as detached and unconcerned, reserved for funerals and sightseeing. But these Buddhist innovators are actively working to address the spiritual well-being of their neighbors, placing themselves in service of the needs they feel and see.

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