One thing I learned on coming to Japan as an earnest foreign student of Buddhism was that the young monks — those shaven-headed fellows in picturesque robes diligently sweeping the temple grounds — are less ascetic than they look. Off duty, they knock back beers, warble at karaoke bars and in general comport themselves like normal Japanese guys.

Hardly surprising, since many are not sages in training but heirs apparent to a family business. Their promotion to abbot — i.e., a temple’s CEO — often depends less on the pureness of their practice than their bloodline. Something similar goes on in many other enterprises and organizations here, from medical clinics to political parties.

"Boku wa Bosan” ("I Am a Monk”), Yukinori Makabe’s revealing if plodding film about a 24-year-old monk who succeeds his saintly grandfather as abbot, admits all the above while being a heartfelt shout-out to Japanese monkdom. Its worthy aim is to humanize what is an exotic and somewhat off-putting breed for many ordinary Japanese. (Given that folks here interact with organized Buddhism mainly at funerals, where priests chant hard-to-parse Sanskrit sutras, this attitude is understandable.)

Based on the best-selling memoirs of a monk at Eifukuji Temple, the 57th stop on the fabled 88-temple pilgrimage in Shikoku, the film is scrupulously and comically true to the monkish life as it’s actually lived.