Fortyish Reverend Oda, who has lived in his rural Japanese temple since he was accepted there as an acolyte, is sent by his order to establish its new temple in Brooklyn. 'Reluctant' understates his attitude but his superior is firm and away he goes ... on condition he only has to stay for a year. His order is deliberately obscured, as the author says in an endnote, but is closer to Nichiren than any other. Everything else feels very true to life, to the point that I wondered for a while whether the book was based on one particular person.
A lightweight but well-written and enjoyable novel with some astute insights into the cultural learning needed on both sides of the Asian priest / Western student interface..
Kim