Tibet.net
14 May 2014
TOKIO: More of 80.000 people came to the Tibet Festival 2013 at Gokokuji temple in central Tokyo. The festival was organized by the House of Tibet, the cultural section of His Holiness the Dalai Lama's Liaison Office for Japan and East Asia, with the support of the abbot, Ven. Eiji Okamoto, y el vice abad Ven.Thaikou Kobayashi, del Templo Gokokuji.
Cham, ritual dance performed by monks
Tashilhunpo an electricity festival.
The festival was held to coincide with the popular Japanese holiday season of Golden Week., from 1º al 6 May 2013. The goal of the festival was food, Tibetan clothing and lifestyle. Various craft items from the Norbulingka Institute, depicting ancient Tibetan culture and crafts were put on display and for sale.
Karchen Lobsang Sherab, the representative Lhakpa Tshoko and Ms. Maria Rinchen gave brief explanations about different aspects of Tibetan culture and the situation of Tibet through interactive sessions during the festival. Maria Rinchen also gave a talk about her life experience in Dharamsala.
Mrs. Noako Yamaguchi, a student of the dialectics of Tibetan Buddhism, spoke about the Tibetan Buddhist debate (Tsen-Nyid) and its peculiarities in general. Nawang Jamphel, a resident of Sapporo city and former head cook of Dharamsala's Tibet Hotel, assisted by local Tibetans they cooked and sold momos, network, thenthuk, khabsey, boedjha and chang, throughout the festival 6 days.
At night, The monks of the Tashi Lhunpo monastery performed the Cham performance, a traditional Tibetan Buddhist opera, followed by Passang Dolma performances, a Tibetan singer living in the US.
Tibetan Buddhist monks perform prayers
as the crowd watches at the festival.
In his speech on the last day of the festival, the Come. Eiji Okamoto, Abad del Templo Gokokuji, He expressed his satisfaction saying that he was happy to be able to help the Tibetan people by allowing the temple site to be used for the Tibet Festival of 6 days.
He said, that Gokokuji Temple shares a special karmic relationship with the Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama in Japan due to His Holiness' visits to its temple on three occasions. His Holiness visited the temple in April 2011 to hold a special prayer service in memory of those who lost their lives during the triple tsunami disaster, the earthquake and the escape of nuclear radiation.
Finally, Representative Lhakpa Tshoko thanked Abbot Ven. Eiji Okamoto and vice-abbot Ven.Thaikou Kobayashi of Gokokuji Temple and all the volunteers and participants who made the Tibet Festival 2013 from Tokyo a success.-
