Japanese monks embrace material world to raise cash as donations shrink

Koukyo Yoneta, a fifth-generation Buddhist priest in a small town in Japan’s Hokkaido, was struggling to keep up with the maintenance needs of his century-old temple, so he chose a path that would have been unthinkable for his predecessors – rather than wait for his congregation to give money they do not have, he invested what they had already donated.The move paid off. Within two years, his portfolio of US treasuries, Japanese real estate investment trusts and stocks including BYD and Hyundai Motor returned more than 10 per cent annually, helping to cover part of the roughly 25 million yen (US$160,000) in needed repairs. The extra money even allowed him to expand the renovations beyond the original plan.