"Since May 1999, many hundreds of people at the International Christian University in Mitaka, Tokyo, have taken the time to walk a labyrinth, a meditational route painted onto canvas and placed temporarily on the floor of the campus church."
From Nov. 20 to 22, you will have this opportunity again as part of a conference, "Bridging The Gap," organized by Yokohama International School. Here the labyrinth will be laid on the floor of the gymnasium, and anyone is welcome to walk this archetypal path of pilgrimage, found in religious traditions all around the world.
My informant is Kathryn Treece, an American living in Tokyo who laughs when I ask if the labyrinth is New Age. "The labyrinth is not a New Age tool, it's a Middle Ages tool." There are ancient labyrinths in India, Russia and all over Europe, including the Scilly Isles and the U.K. In the States there is an explosion of interest, with the most famous labyrinth in San Francisco's Grace Cathedral.