NAGANO (Kyodo) The Dalai Lama, Tibet's spiritual leader, may stir yet more controversy in his antagonism with China, this time by a plan to visit Zenkoji Temple in the city of Nagano next June, according to his Tokyo liaison office.
The Buddhist temple drew attention last April after it declined to serve as the starting point of the Japan leg of the Beijing Olympic torch relay due to the Chinese crackdown on Buddhists in Tibet.
According to the liaison office, the Dalai Lama sent a Buddhist statue to Zenkoji in November 2008 and the temple invited him at that time.
He plans to hold a service for world peace at the temple and give a lecture in the city.
The Dalai Lama has been leading the Tibetan government in exile in Dharamsala, India, for the last 50 years.