From the upper floors, a programmer could see, in the distance, the pagoda roof of the main hall of Tofuku-ji, an eight-hundred-year-old Zen temple, rising over the trees at the edge of town.

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Kodai-ji is a historic Zen temple located in the scenic Higashiyama area and was one of the first temples to kick off after-dark illuminations (when the gardens are lit by multicoloured spotlights), allowing cherry blossom viewing to continue well into the night.

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In 1961 he met Zen master Shunryu Suzuki, who was running a small Buddhist temple in a run-down former synagogue.

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