Temple decides not to buy pro-Pyongyang group's land

Temple decides not to buy pro-Pyongyang group's land

FUJISAWA, Japan - Ekan Ikeguchi, head of Saifuku temple in Kagoshima Prefecture, holds a press conference in Fujisawa, Kanagawa Prefecture, on May 10, 2013. The chief priest of the Buddhist temple officially announced that it has dropped a plan to buy the land and head office building of the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan, known as Chongryon. The temple won the bidding for the site of the pro-Pyongyang group in March.

Temple drops plan to buy Chongryon site

Temple drops plan to buy Chongryon site

TOKYO, Japan - Ekan Ikeguchi, leader of Saifuku temple in Kagoshima Prefecture, speaks to reporters at Tokyo's Haneda airport on May 9, 2013. The priest said the temple will drop a plan to purchase the Tokyo headquarters site of the pro-Pyongyang General Association of Korean Residents in Japan, known as Chongryon, because it is unable to pay 4.5 billion yen for the site by the May 10, 2013, deadline.

Paying for winning bid at standstill

Paying for winning bid at standstill

TOKYO, Japan - Ekan Ikeguchi, chief priest of Saifuku temple in Kagoshima Prefecture, speaks in Tokyo on April 24, 2013. Ikeguchi suggested the Buddhist temple may not be able to acquire the land and building of the Tokyo headquarters of the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan, known as Chongryon, as it has no clear prospects for paying 4.5 billion yen for the properties by the May 10 deadline.

Buddhist group to acquire pro-Pyongyang group's office

Buddhist group to acquire pro-Pyongyang group's office

FUJISAWA, Japan - Ekan Ikeguchi, leader of Saifuku temple, answers reporters' questions concerning the temple's planned acquisition of the Tokyo headquarters of a pro-Pyongyang group, in Fujisawa, Kanagawa Prefecture, on March 26, 2013. Ikeguchi said he was asked by a senior North Korean official to maintain the Chongryon headquarters and that his temple plans to lease the building to the group. The government-backed Resolution and Collection Corp. put the premises out to tender to recoup loans of around 62.7 billion yen, and the temple based in Kagoshima Prefecture offered 4.5 billion yen, the highest among four bidders.

Japanese Buddhist monk prays for WTC victims

Japanese Buddhist monk prays for WTC victims

NEW YORK, United States - Ekan Ikeguchi, a Japanese Buddhist monk known for having visited Auschwitz and other sites of war atrocities, recites a sutra before a makeshift altar near the ruins of the World Trade Center in New York on Sept. 28. Ikeguchi and other monks performed memorial rites for the victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attack that leveled the landmark twin towers.

Hand-drawn goblins popular at Shinto shrine in eastern Japan

Hand-drawn goblins popular at Shinto shrine in eastern Japan

Atsushi Ikeguchi, a junior Shinto priest at the Furumine Shrine in Kanuma, Tochigi Prefecture, north of Tokyo, draws a long-nosed goblin, the shrine's symbol, on a notebook brought by a visitor with a vermilion ink brush on April 20, 2015. The shrine is popular among visitors obsessed with a booming collection of shrine and temple seals. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

Japanese Buddhist monk prays for WTC victims

Japanese Buddhist monk prays for WTC victims

NEW YORK, United States - Ekan Ikeguchi, a Japanese Buddhist monk known for having visited Auschwitz and other sites of war atrocities, recites a sutra before a makeshift altar near the ruins of the World Trade Center in New York on Sept. 28. Ikeguchi and other monks performed memorial rites for the victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attack that leveled the landmark twin towers.