Midwest Buddhist Temple

This temple is situated in a beautiful location. The only downfall is I was expecting an Asian teacher. I guess that’s what my expectation is… To experience the eastern philosophy I was expecting someone to look like Mr miyagi! and to share their whole essence and background which would be eastern. Met some pretty cool people…

Buddhism varies quite a bit by nationality, sect, ethnicity, and geography. This is a Japanese-​American Buddhist temple of the Jodo-​Shinshu «Pure Land» sect, founded by Issei and Nissei Japanese-​Americans fleeing the growing scapegoating racism of the American West during WWII. The American Midwest was relatively more tolerant, but some of the idiosyncrasies of the practices of this sect made blending in with a minimum of conflict possible as well. The temple is set up more like an American Protestant Church with Japanese architectural influence, rather than a traditional Japanese mainstream temple — you keep your shoes on and sit in Western style pews, instead of monks, ministers conduct the services on Sunday mornings, Dharma talks mimic homilies or sermons, the opening chant is the only Japanese for the English services, and some of the hymns are actually Protestant traditional hymns with adjusted words. The Pure Land metaphor of nirvana sounds like Christian heaven, the pseudo-​deification of Lord Buddha can sound superficially like references to the Judeo-​Christian God. Thus, I recommend a visit to this temple to tourists, visitors, travelers, especially those interested in comparative religion, immigration history, cross-​cultural studies, and members of any other Buddhist group. Over the years, the members of this temple have come to resemble the «dual congregation» pattern described by Paul Numrich (Old Wisdom in the New World, 1999) there’s the ethnic Japanese-​Americans who come here for the holidays, the cultural classes for children, the food events (for example breakfast for holiday volunteers is often fried baloney and short-​grain steamed white rice, Internment Camp food a generation or two later), but there’s also the White converts who tend to pay much closer attention to the Dharma talk and Buddhist philosophy presented by the learned ministers (with less interest in the ethnic sub-​cultural aspects). I also recommend the temple as a place to visit if you’re enrolled in a college or graduate comparative religion, anthropology or sociology of religion class. I’m going to warn you that at the end of service they ask visitors to stand up and say hi, but you really don’t have to if you’re embarrassed, just stay seated and look down.
Look for the annual Ginza Holiday festival in August, the annual fundraiser featuring delicious Terriyaki chicken (or vegetarian Boca burgers), and Mochi-​Tsuki in December. Mochi is a Japanese and Hawai’ian-Japanese dessert that is an acquired taste, but the pounding required in preparation is surprisingly therapeutic and helps Buddhists be non-​violent. You have to try it out to understand.
Check the website for services (not quite every Sunday, and one service is in Japanese), and classes.

I come here yearly for the Ginza Festival.
I don’t attend for religious purposes and when I visit it is set up with an art gallery with items that can be purchased by the public. They had a Q&A once about Buddhism which was very interesting.
During the festival be sure to enter on the right and the door on the left front side of the building is the exit.

It is August and once again it is time for the Ginza Festival, where there are a deluge of people descending upon the Buddhist temple grounds in Old Town ! The Midwest Buddhist Temple has been a fixture in Old Town since July 1944, and has been located on its’ present site since 1948. For the past 59 years the Midwest Buddhist Temple has held the Ginza Festival in mid August. This festival is marked with artists, representing the different crafts that Japan is famous for, the festival has many different interesting exhibitions of art and nature. In addition, the guest artists do demonstration of their different techniques, these pieces can be purchased from the artists at he festival. On the main stage there are presentations including: dancing, Taiko Drum, Kendo (fencing). Aikido, Judo, etc…
In addition this year the festival was lucky enough to have Yoko Noge and Japanese combine their unique fusion of Japanese «Minho» folk music with Chicago Blues. It was fantastic, Yoko got everybody up out of their seats and involved in their music, the place was rocking! No one knew what was going to happen next, the music kept getting better and better!
Finally, don’t forget to purchase some of the famous teriyaki chicken made fresh right at the festival! There is always a line of people snaked around the food vendors waiting to purchase the chicken teriyaki meal. The scent of the teriyaki permeates the whole festival, motivating the customers to go and get that chicken. In addition, there are many other items that can be purchased with tickets from the food stands, such as: sushi, udon, vegetable plate, corn on the cob, edamame, sno cones, etc… Along with soda, lemonade, beer and sake are served with proof of ID.
I am giving the Ginza Festival five stars, it is done so well, there is a lot of teamwork involved in making this a continued successful event in the community. All the visitors are happy and respectful of each other, everyone looks like they are having a wonderful time and are content. This festival helps raise money for different programs throughout the year for the Midwest Buddhist Temple, which in turn gives back to the Old Town Community.
I can’t wait to see next years 60^th Ginza Festival, it should be outstanding!

First, the low reviews are rating the ‘Ginza Festival’ not the temple. This is kind of like rating France on a bike ride.
That aside read YAS M.‘s review. I could not have done a better job of describing it.
So I’ll stick with my personal experiance.
I have a doctorate in religion. This came about not from intent, but rather from doing extensive research on all different religions. In the perhaps hundred places I have attended service this place resonated with me the most.
I can’t explain it fully, but I feel at peace here the most.
I encourage you to drop by for SUnday services at 10:30 on Sundays. It’s very low pressure and friendly.
Anyway, I love the place, the people and the treachings. I could not give it a high enough rating.

The twice a year Mind-​Body Seminar (in March and September at equinox times) is a great experience to get a taste of yoga, meditation, chi (ki) energy work and other practices. Each seminar has its own unique topic exploring spirituality — most recently Taoism (2010 September) and Sufism (2011 March). The seminar is an all-​day event on a Saturday including lunch, but you are not required to stay for all the activities (you should, to get your money’s worth and treat yourself to some time away from the usual hassles of your life).

They posted a movie screening on their website so we came here to check out a movie screening of an old Japanese movie classic. I cant remember the name, but it was a story of a blind man who fights to get rid of evil. We had a little trouble finding the place where the screening was held because the building looked completely closed. There were no signs for guests. Luckily we found an open gate and wandered into their parking lot where there was another door we decided to try. Again, no signs for guests.
When we finally found the place, we saw the auditorium filled with regulars ready for the screening. They had snacks at the entrance. I was a little irritated that they had a donation boxed clearly marked as «DONATION» but they had a woman in the audience scream at people who didn’t give a donation to give one. So basically your donation becomes a mandatory fee. The assortment of food was good though, and they offered freshly made popcorn.
During the first 20 minutes of the movie, we got interrupted 3 times for late comers. For each interruption, the movie was stopped for the late people to come in. We then had to wait for them to find a seat, get settled, get their snack, pay their «donation» and then when that was done we could resume the movie. I thought this could have been handled better. The movie was stopped in the middle for intermission which I liked.
I guess beggers cant be choosers. The movie was free so I cant complain too much. Too bad I didn’t enjoy the movie. I wont be attending anymore screenings. But the people here were really nice and funny and I thought it was a great way to get the community together.

The Ginza website can be found at

This is the Chicago representative of Buddhist Churches of America, rooted in Jodo Shinshu Hongwanji-​Ha (based in Kyoto, Japan). The temple was formed on the south side in 1944, by relocated Japanese Americans, later moving to another location in Old Town, and finally to its current location in 1971.
In addition to Buddhist studies, the temple also contributes to the community-​at-​large through various programs, events and services. They post a weekly «Dharma talk» podcast, which is archived on their blog, at:
The annual Ginza Holiday was originally begun (ca. 1956) as a fundraiser for the temple and a way for its members to share Japanese culture with the greater community. However, as it has been historically run by Americans of Japanese ancestry, I mightn’t attend with expectations of finding what you would experience as far as summer festivals go in Japan. I’d go so far as to say a number of the organizers may have never set foot in Japan. Instead, it’s more of a homegrown pageant of varied Japanese culture, celebrated Japanese American style with chicken teriyaki, corn on the cob, cold noodles, sno-​cones, etc.
The temple also hosts a summer Obon, in addition to its other regularly scheduled Buddhist observances.

I’ve attended the Ginza Holiday Festival held every summer at the Midwest Buddhist Temple several times and have always had fun. The members of the temple and the volunteers who staff the Festival have always been very welcoming of the large crowds the Festival attracts.