Special Places, Sacred Spaces: Two Traditional Buddhist Temples in Nihonmachi Los Angeles

Abstract

This article explores two significant Buddhist temples in Los Angeles’s Little Tokyo, the Nishi Hongwanji, and the Higashi Honganji Buddhist Churches. The study’s methodology is inspired by Yi-Fu Tuan’s humanistic geography, whose work explores the relationship between environment and human subjective experience. As the majority of 20th-century Japanese immigrants were Buddhists, a closer look at the temples helps explicate the dynamic between Buddhist belief and its architectural expression. This article takes the concept of a binary as its framework. It explores Little Tokyo in terms of the sacred and profane, the inner and outer, and the vertical and the horizontal vis-à-vis two Buddhist temples. The argument here is that these dualities resolve into one holistic experience with respect to the formation of memory, history, and religious faith.

‘Sense of Place’ on Sacred Cultural and Architectural Heritage: St. Peter’s Church of Melaka

“…The cultural and religious experiences of the community are known to contribute to the formation of the emotional bond between the building and the individuals which merged in a variety of activities in their hearts and minds. The existence of religious structures in a foreign environment has become a vital home of cultural safety and spiritual solace for the community to survive (Gordon, 2019).…”

“…The sacramental nature of a church connects the history of the church, the cultural influence, and the need to consider the environment where the churches are built. In some circumstances, the existence of religious structures in a foreign environment become a vital home of cultural safety and spiritual solace for the community to survive (Bess, 2003;Gordon, 2019).…”

Architecturations of Pentecostal Power: Contribution to a Sociology of Pentecostal Auditoriums

“…Photographs taken by the Author, October 2018 and December 2019. Gordon, 2019). It appeals to the sensibilities of the Pentecostal faith through ecstatic aesthetics.…”

“…396, 397; cf. Gordon, 2019). It appeals to the sensibilities of the Pentecostal faith through ecstatic aesthetics.…”