TOKYO – Two Buddhist monks and a nun strolled down a catwalk, showed off talents such as karate moves and answered questions in a Japanese contest on Monday aimed at making Buddhist practitioners more approachable and less solemn.
Koyu Osawa, the nun, who wore a black robe and sported closely cropped hair, was voted the spectators’ favourite at the Tokyo event organised by Obosan.com, or “Monks.com”, a web-based provider of Buddhist services such as funerals and marriages.
In response to one question, Osawa recalled when a friend was in tears trying to talk her out of becoming a nun.
She said she wanted people to know that being a monk or nun can involve hardships and it is not simply a job relying on donations at a temple.
Kazuma Hayashi, the contest organizer, said he wanted to make monks – often seen as serious, distant figures associated with funerals – more approachable and a part of daily life.
Monks “are not people who you associate with only after you die”, he said, but they can help with ordinary struggles.
