Techno Hoyo Offers the ‘Experience’ of Buddhism

I recently had the opportunity to see and experience the Techno Hoyo service that was created by Rev. Gyosen Asakura from Japan.  

Two years ago, the BCA brought Rev. Asakura from Japan to have the first U.S. tour of “Techno Hoyo.” Maybe some of you saw it at that time or on this most recent tour in February that included the BCA National Council Meeting and Northwest District Convention in Renton, Washington; the Mountain View Buddhist Temple; the Buddhist Church of Sacramento; the Fresno Betsuin Buddhist Temple; and the Orange County Buddhist Church (OCBC).  

Techno Hoyo is a Buddhist service that consists of lights, visual effects, chanting and disco-type upbeat music. It was created by Rev. Asakura.

Rev. Asakura is a minister ordained in our Hongwanji tradition and his temple is in Fukui prefecture. When he was younger, Rev. Asakura was a DJ and worked in clubs and at events in Japan.  

As a minister, he struggled, like most other ministers in Japan, on the issue of how to bring people to his temple. Attendance at temples throughout Japan has decreased and most only have elderly members. Rev. Asakura wanted to bring people of all ages to his temple. 

He decided to experiment with his background as a DJ by incorporating lights, visual effects, upbeat music, all integrated with traditional sutra chanting in the background. He always offered a Dharma talk in his service as well.  

It wasn’t long before throngs of people started coming to his temple and especially, young people.  

I was introduced to Rev. Asakura’s work by Rev. Chiemi Onikura-Bly, a Minister’s Assistant in the Twin Cities Sangha in Minneapolis, who shared videos of Techno Hoyo with me and wondered if there was some way to bring this to the United States. That was how the first Techno Hoyo U.S. tour began two years ago and we were fortunate to have it again in February.

So many people were invigorated by such an innovative and creative way to have a service. People were swaying to the beat of the music and even dancing in the Hondo.  

Rev. Jon Turner, Resident Minister at OCBC, made a comment to me that I thought was really spot on. He said he loved the Techno Hoyo service because it was focused on “experience” instead of “thinking,” as our services tend to lean toward.  

It made me realize that Shin Buddhism in the West should be presented as “Experiential Buddhism,” meaning that it is a teaching that must be experienced in one’s own life for it to really come alive. The Techno Hoyo service really brought that out in a dynamic manner.  

A traditionalist would be horrified by the Techno Hoyo service. What?  Disco music? People dancing and saying the Nembutsu? A light show?  But as Rev. Asakura explained in his Dharma message, centuries ago, Buddhist artists created how our altars look, with the gold leaf paint, the ornate carvings and the statue of Amida Buddha.  

He explained that they were trying to artistically create an image of what the Pure Land might look like. Rev. Asakura said that he is doing the exact same thing, but only using modern technology of lights, music and computers. He is trying to create an “experience” for people to encounter the Dharma, the Nembutsu.  

We have to be innovative and creative as we develop new ways to present and share the Dharma. Techno Hoyo is a striking example of exactly that. 

We have to experiment and try different ways to conduct our services in a manner that truly resonates with people in a way that they will want to come, learn and “experience” the Dharma.