[3] In 1962, at the request of Daiko Furukawa,[3] Joshu decided to travel to the United States to teach students in the West,[2] founding a Zen center in Los Angeles.

Joshu Sasaki's public and retreat talks centred on "Tathagata Zen", and he very often used the Rinzai Roku and Blue Cliff Record as starting points for his lectures and teishos.

In early February 2012, at the age of 104, Joshu Roshi became ill with aspiration pneumonia and did not teach at MBZC (or any affiliate Zen Center) again.

On November 10, at a dedication ceremony for the Zendo remodel, Joshu Roshi officially resigned as abbot of the Mount Baldy Zen Center for health reasons.

[citation needed] Joshu Sasaki has given full Rinzai priest ordination to approximately 20 students, which grants them the title oshō.

In a 24 December 2009 interview Eshin Godfrey, Abbot of the Zen Centre of Vancouver and a student of Sasaki-roshi, said of his teacher,He has become a precious golden Buddha!

[9] Although not widely known outside Japan until recent years, in 1954, Sasaki was convicted in Japan by the Sendai District Court in a criminal proceeding, confirmed upon rehearing by the Sendai High Court, and sentenced to serve 8 months in prison, for misuse and misappropriation of temple funds during Sasaki's time overseeing the finances of Zuiganji Temple.

It was reported that the appellate court imposed actual imprisonment upon finding that a portion of the misappropriated funds were used for "a pleasure/spending spree [遊興費]" in a way "inappropriate for a religious figure/man of the cloth (宗教家)," including payments to several women.

In light of these significant abuses of authority, the Buddhists in the United States have developed statements on ethics and various guidelines for prospective students to apply in choosing a teacher.

I was told by one Osho and one senior student I would be blamed for Joshu Roshi's death if I tried to make him change his behavior, and that I would be responsible for ruining his legacy.