They don't hold formal conferences or seek out media coverage of their more than 20 years of charitable work in Myanmar. Rather, members of the Asian Buddhist Association put their time into the project itself and traversing Japan drumming up interest among grassroots Buddhist groups, nongovernmental organizations and potential volunteers.
Since the association's official launch in 1983, it has built five schools, a children's hospital and three water-purification plants in the Southeast Asian country formally known as Burma, while teaching the spiritual values of Buddhism. It plans to pursue similar activities in Vietnam, Cambodia and China in the future.
It all started in 1972 in Imari, Saga Prefecture, where a group under Zen Buddhist priest Kokai Ohya held Zen workshops for children. War was a recurring theme in discussions about spirituality and Japanese history, and through these talks, it became clear Myanmar was in need of assistance, recalls the group's director, Shuko Kojima of Honkoji Zen Temple, Imari.