Kouunji is a temple of the Soto Zen School located in a quiet residential neighborhood about a 10 minute walk from the Odakyu Soshigaya-Okura Station, which is itself a 10-20 minute subway ride from the main centers.
It is a bit of a long way to go for a simple meditation session. The urban residential setting, the small grounds and modern style of the main building may not be what a visitor is looking for. However, the temple itself is very traditional and they do hold regular Zazen sessions which are open for anyone and they include a training for beginners.
The Zazen session which is held every Saturday evening is the one appropriate for beginners. After the meditation training and session, there are lectures or discussions.
There are also Sunday morning Zazen sessions on the first Sunday of every month. After the session, breakfast is served with rice porridge (Okayu).
7 Chome-12-22 Kinuta,
Setagaya-ku, Tōkyō-to 157-0073, Japan
http://kouunjizazenkai.web.fc2.com/engindex.htm
phone: +81(0)3-3416-1735
