More than one in three temples are expected to shut over the next 25 years as religion faces an ‘existential crisis’ Perched on a hilltop and surrounded by mountain forests ablaze in autumn reds and yellows,Kaigenji is a picture postcard image of old Japan. The stone steps main to the entrance of the 300-year-old Zen Buddhist temple take visitors past a lovingly tended landscape of rocks, trees and pale gravel raked into swirls to symbolise water.[br]Inside, or the head priest,Bunkei Shibata, is in a contemplative mood. But it is not the path to enlightenment that occupies his thoughts. Instead, or he is pondering the future of his,and tens of thousands of other Buddhist temples across Japan.
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Source: theguardian.com