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While on the pilgrimage, at Temple 14, I run into a fellow whom I had met a few days before at Temple 4. In broken English, he explains that he lives near Temple 14 and that he was visiting Temple 4 on the week-end to pay his respects to the deceased of Fukushima earthquake and tsunami of 2011 as the Japanese government had just restarted (October 29) and then stopped again (November 5) the reactor number 2 of the Onagawa nuclear power plant. He shares that he is really afraid of earthquakes. At temple 4, he had offered me sweets. At temple 14, he is giving me incense sticks of a very special kind. He then goes on to tell me about the Muzai no Shichisei (Seven Gifts Needing No Wealth) pointing to the guidebook, reading them one by one, both in Japanese and in English, commenting on each one as he reads, apologizing and feeling somewhat guilty for not being able to offer the seventh gift on the list: lodging. Kindness like this can be found daily in Japan. Everyone seems to be going out of their way to serve you, not to gain anything in return, but just as an act of kindness. It’s very heartening this ongoing circle of giving and receiving of items that require no wealth.
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