Reverend Katsuya Kusunoki is the Head Minister of the Seattle Betsuin Buddhist Temple. Sensei was born in Nagasaki, Japan, the second son of a temple family. Today his older brother Naoya is the 17th generation of their family to serve their family temple. Sensei is a graduate of Miyazaki University where he majored in primary education and his hobby is to watch and play baseball and softball. While a college student he took a break and spent almost two and a half years in a Japanese volunteer program similar to the Peace Corps in America coaching baseball in Zimbabwe before returning to Japan to complete his studies. After graduating he spent three years teaching 3rd and 6th grade classes before deciding to become a minister.
Sensei’s advanced training includes the Hongwanji-ha Rituals course for leaders (Gonshiki). He is a Hongwanji-ha certified Special Rituals Minister, a certificate only he and our former minister Rev. Sala Sekiya hold within the Buddhist Churches of America. Sensei’s first assignment in America was to the Lodi Buddhist Temple in 2010 and he was transferred to Seattle in April of 2017. Sensei and his wife Ayano have a son, Yuiya, who was born in September 2016.

For more information about Rev. Kusunoki and the resources mentioned in the episode, please visit the following links:

https://seattlebetsuin.org/

https://www.youtube.com/@SeattleBuddhistTemple

We discussed:
*Rennyo Shonin, holding service in a gymnasium vs. the Hondo, and the Seattle Betsuin’s recovery from arson
*Becoming a certified Special Rituals Minister and feeling a powerful energy during service at Nishi Hongan-ji
*Growing up in a temple family, coaching baseball in Zimbabwe, and becoming a Jodo Shinshu minister in Lodi, California
*Ritual as as expression of gratitude, baseball, and throwing the first pitch at a Mariners game
*And the importance of exploring different Buddhist traditions and finding helpful people to guide your interest in Buddhism