Rev. Noriaki Nagao of Tenrikyo Europe Centre in Paris, France, was invited to visit University Ca' Foscari of Venice to give a lecture about Tenrikyo to the university's students and faculty members.

This arrangement was made possible after Rev. Nagao accepted a request from Dr. Laura Moretti, who is lecturer of Japanese in the Department of East Asian Studies at University Ca' Foscari of Venice.

Dr. Moretti came to know of the Tenrikyo teachings through Mr. Hideo Yamanaka of Tenri University, who has been at Cambridge University as a visiting scholar since September 2004. She became interested in the teachings and visited Tenrikyo Europe Centre in April. She attended the morning service there and, after listening to Rev. Nagao's explanation of the Tenrikyo teachings, invited him to visit the university as a guest speaker.

University Ca' Foscari of Venice ranks high among European universities in terms of the number of students who study Japanese. Approximately 180 students of this university choose Japanese as their main foreign language every year. Rev. Nagao's lecture drew many students majoring in Japanese Studies or Religious Studies as well as professors from the Department of East Asian Studies and faculty members teaching classical Japanese literature.

Dressed in the kyofuku robe, the garment used in Tenrikyo daily services, Rev. Nagao gave a 50-minute lecture in English. He talked about some teachings such as "A thing lent, a thing borrowed," "Hinokishin," and "Causality." During the lecture, Mr. Yamanaka projected pictures of the buildings at Tenrikyo Europe Centre, followers engaging in hinokishin, and other images onto a screen.

Following the lecture was a question-and-answer session, in which students asked many questions such as "What is the difference between hinokishin and volunteer work?" and "How do you go about engaging in salvation work with those suffering from psychological problems?" Because there were so many questions being asked, the session went on longer than scheduled.

Furthermore, English editions of the Ofudesaki (The Tip of the Writing Brush), The Doctrine of Tenrikyo, and The Life of Oyasama, Foundress of Tenrikyo, were donated to the university.

Rev. Nagao said: "It was the first time for me to talk about the Tenrikyo teachings in front of young university students from foreign countries in a setting like this. I noticed that they showed great interest and were listening attentively. It appears that they were especially interested in Tenrikyo's view on salvation since they listened with keen interest to my explanation about the administration of the Sazuke and miraculous blessings. I was very glad when I heard Dr. Moretti comment: 'Your lecture was marvelous. I would like to visit Tenri next year, the year of Oyasama's 120th Anniversary, and attend the Besseki lecture.'"