TENZO

Two Monks Finds Ways to Do the Right Thing

Venue(s): Uplink Shibuya
Nov. 8, 2019 to Nov. 14: 10:15 or 10:30 except Nov. 10: 16:50
Language: Japanese with English subtitles
Official website: www.sousei.gr.jp/tenzo/en/
Theater website: shibuya.uplink.co.jp/movie/2019/54828
Theater website: shibuya.uplink.co.jp/
Tariff: Members: ¥1,000, Wednesday special price: ¥1,200 or regular fees: ¥1,500 for adults

Title: 典座 -TENZO- (Tenzo)
Director: Katsuya Tomita (富田克也)
Duration: 60 min

It’s not often that we’re eager to publicize a film commissioned by a religious organization; but the 60-minute docufiction Tenzo deserves attention. 

Named for the head cook position in the Soto Zen school, it focuses on the daily lives of two monks, one played by director Katsuya Tomita’s cousin, Chiken Kawaguchi, and the other by Ryugyo Kurashima (who is president of the All-Japan Young Soto Zen Buddhist Priest Association, and initiator of the film), as they try to live useful lives and to contribute to their communities following the 3/11 disasters.

The film is an intriguing mix of talking heads and actual people playing themselves, as well as people playing written roles, yet it all feels like an authentic portrait of today’s Buddhist monks. We watch as Chiken, a tozen at his temple in Yamanashi, volunteers at a suicide prevention service and learns how to find the right balance between food and nature to cure his young son’s asthma. His Fukushima-based friend Ryugyo suffered greatly in 3/11, a tragedy that continues to haunt him. We watch as he works to comfort victims living in temporary shelters and helps clean up the debris. But both men are human, and we also see them drink in excess and listen to rap.

Tomita’s Saudade (2011), about Brazilian construction workers in his hometown in Yamanashi Prefecture, and Bangkok Nites (2016), about a Japanese man and Thai woman, touched on some of the themes in Tenzo, which world premiered at the Cannes Film Festival International Critics’ Week earlier this year.

The film started life when the Soto school decided to make a short promo film about their activities to show at a major annual gathering of Buddhist schools. As Tomita explains in an interview reprinted of the film’s website, “But since it's the second largest religious group in Japan in terms of importance and number of followers, when the association launched their fundraising campaign they ended up collecting much more than expected. Thus from a very short film we ended up making a one-hour feature.”

Uplink Shibuya