Japan's spirit is being tested by the same recession and financial crisis afflicting all industrialized nations. But paradoxically, there are answers to be found to Japan's very modern crises in its most ancient traditions. There are shrines and temples and gardens everywhere. It is common to see monks meditating and easy to join them in meditation. And the latest twist is Buddhist temples using Zen meditation, cold-water ablutions and other traditional ceremonial practices to help young people looking for jobs! By taking its traditions and adapting them to solve new problems, by going both forward and backward, both outward and inward -- juxtapositions that in Japan don't have to be contradictions -- the people of Japan are poised find a new and vibrant balance for the 21st century.