World Buddhist Summit
The Wednesday, October 18, 2023 edition of The Japan Times print newspaper featured a gigantic 2-page spread on pages 6-7. I wondered how expensive it was. I’m not sure what it was. It’s an advertisement, yes - maybe even two advertisements that look like one. But advertising what? It appears to be an ad for the inaugural World Buddhist Summit. But that occurred on April 20, 2023 at the Hotel Ashok in Delhi, India. Maybe it’s an advertisement for the opening of a permanent facility for the World Buddhist Summit - the Royal Grand Hall of Buddhism - in Kato City, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan. Or, maybe it’s an announcement for the opening of the Nalanda Mahavihara Buddhist university in Bihar, India, on September 13, 2023. Much of this information I just wrote I had to glean from the internet, because it’s not clear from the ad in the paper. I find this kind of vagueness frustratingly typical of Asian communication. I mean, rich, ornate language that actually tells you nothing.