The Swiss Monk Of Koyasan

[Mulboyne]

[FG Lurker]

Hopefully after 28 years here (with 11 as a monk in a Japanese Buddhist sect) he has PR.

[Kaiju]

It would be interesting to hear his take on Arudou Debito's activities and the so called "Japanese Only" issue.

[Yokohammer]

... While Kubli is probably on a spouse visa, I wonder what status the others have? Maybe a kind of student visa or perhaps, literally, they are "specialists in humanities"

FG Lurker is right.

If he's been married to a Japanese woman (especially the same one) for 28 years he most likely has permanent residence.

[Mulboyne]

FG Lurker is right.

If he's been married to a Japanese woman (especially the same one) for 28 years he most likely has permanent residence.

I agree that's likely. I don't think I phrased my question very well. I was really more interested in what visas foreigners would qualify for to study at a temple if they weren't already qualified through marriage or PR. The word "study", which the monks often use, might suggest a student visa but temples aren't classified educational institutions. Now that I've bothered checking the MoFA site, it seems there is a religious activities working visa but it is described as being for "Missionary and other religious activities conducted by members of foreign religious organizations". This is presumably what Mormons and Southern Baptists apply for. I read elsewhere that foreigners wanting to become monks apply for a cultural activities visa which requires them to be accepted by a qualifying institution.

[Yokohammer]

Ah ... right.

The MoFa site defines the "Cultural Activities" visa as: "Academic or artistic activities that provide no income, activities for the purpose of pursuing specific studies on Japanese culture or arts, or activities for the purpose of learning and acquiring skills in Japanese culture or arts under the guidance of experts (for example, ikebana, tea ceremony, judo, etc.)." This is a 1-year or 3-year visa.

Whereas a "Religious Activities" visa is: "Missionary and other religious activities conducted by members of foreign religious organizations," as you correctly quote above. But this is only a 6-month or 1-year visa.

These are the only two I can find that seem applicable.

[Mike Oxlong]

I read elsewhere that foreigners wanting to become monks apply for a cultural activities visa which requires them to be accepted by a qualifying institution.

Yes, that's correct. I have met people from Western countries studying Buddhism at temples in Japan, and they told me they were staying on cultural activities visas. I don't think they intended to become monks, but had a strong interest in the religion and it's place in Japanese culture. In those cases, they stayed three years - renewing their original one-year visa twice.