“Zen” is a 2009 film directed by Banmei Takahashi and starring Nakamura Kantarō II as Dogen, and Yuki Uchida as Orin.
The film is a biography of Dōgen Zenji (道元禅師) (19 January 1200 – 22 September 1253), a Japanese Zen Buddhist teacher. After travelling to China to study, Dogen founded the Sōtō school of Zen in Japan.
Plot Summary
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‘Zen’ Buddhist teacher Dogen Zenji is a very important religious person during the Kamakura period, 750 years ago. After his mother died, he decides to move to China and settle as a Buddhist teacher. One bright morning, enlightened, Zenji returns to Japan as a devoted evangelist of the ‘new’ Buddhism. However, this new form of Buddhism is not accepted in all communities.
