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October 25, 2022 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Lāhainā Jodo Mission

Jodo Buddhism was founded by Saint Honen in 1175. The word Jodo, from which the name of the sect was derived, means “Pure Land,” is the name given to the Western Paradise or the realm of Amida Buddha, the Buddha of Infinite Life and Light.

Today, these teachings have spread to all corners of the world. It was introduced to Hawaiʻi in 1894 and continues to grow here.

Japanese immigration to Hawaiʻi that began in 1868 marked the beginnings of large-scale settlement and, with it, the establishment of a strong religious base of Buddhism.

The Lāhainā Jodo Mission was founded in 1912 with the support of many Japanese immigrants then working in the nearby sugar and pineapple plantations.

After the original temple was destroyed in a fire in 1968, the members of the Mission decided to build a Japanese style Buddhist temple on the beachfront property that provided an idyllic setting.

The Great Buddha and the Temple Bell were completed in June 1968 to commemorate the Centennial Anniversary of the first Japanese immigrants to arrive in Hawaiʻi

In 1970, the main Temple and Pagoda were built with the generous and wholehearted support of the members of the Mission as well as the general public. Masao Omori, a Japanese philanthropist, donated the expertise of Japanese craftsmen that was necessary for the construction of the buildings and the casting of the Buddha.

The present temple stands on the exact spot of the former temple building. The new structure was built by traditional Japanese carpenters with the help of our members and friends. Lāhainā Jodo Mission is a unique Buddhist temple with its architectural structure that blends Japanese and Western styles.

One of the most interesting features is the solid copper shingles that cover the rooftops of both the Temple and the Pagoda. All the shingles were individually hand-made and are interlocked on all four sides, forming a solid copper sheeting. Also, the traditional construction of the wooden beams allows the pieces to interlock without the use of nails.

Inside the temple, five Buddhist paintings adorn the walls. These were painted in 1974 by the renowned Japanese artist Iwasaki Hajin. In later years, Mr. Iwasaki painted beautiful floral ceiling paintings and produced two paintings depicting the dream of Saint Honen (1133-1212) meeting the Chinese Pure Land Master Shantao (613-681).

The 12-feet tall copper and bronze statue of Amida Buddha is the largest of its kind outside Japan. It was cast in Kyoto, Japan, from 1967 to 1968, and weighs approximately three and a half tons. The Great Buddha was completed in June 1968, as a commemorative project for the early Japanese immigrants.

Made of bronze, on one side of the temple bell (the ocean side) are the words Imin Hyakunen no Kane (The Centennial Memorial Bell for the First Japanese Immigrants to Hawaii) cast in Chinese characters. On the other side are the characters Namu Amida Butsu, which means “Save me, oh, Amida Buddha.”

The Pagoda, or Temple Tower, is approximately 90-feet high at its tallest point. The covering of the roof is made of pure copper. The first floor of the pagoda contains niches to hold the urns of deceased members.

At Lāhainā Jodo Mission, the temple bell is rung eleven times each evening at 8 o’clock.

The first three rings signify the following:
• I go to the Buddha for guidance
• I go to the Dharma (the teaching of the Buddha) for guidance
• I go to the Sangha (Brotherhood) for guidance

The next eight rings represent the Eight-Fold Pathway to Righteousness:
• Right Understanding
• Right Purpose
• Right Speech
• Right Conduct
• Right Livelihood
• Right Endeavor
• Right Thought
• Right Meditation

According to Buddhist legend, when Sakyamuni Buddha entered Nirvana, his body was cremated at Kusinara. Seven of the neighboring rulers, under the leadership of King Ajatasattu, demanded the ashes be divided among them.

At first, the king refused their demands and a dispute ensued, threatening to end in war. But a wise man named Dona intervened and the crisis passed. The ashes were divided and enshrined in eight great stupas in India.

The ashes of the funeral fire and the earthen jar that contained the remains were given to two other rulers to be likewise honored. Because of the enshrinements, followers came to worship and pay homage to these stupas, also called pagodas, which later became a symbol of the spiritual image of the Buddha.  (Information here is from lahainajodomission-org)

© 2022 Hoʻokuleana LLC

Filed Under: Missionaries / Churches / Religious Buildings Tagged With: Hawaii, Maui, Lahaina, Lahaina Jodo Mission, Buddha, Buddhism

March 2, 2019 by Peter T Young 3 Comments

Buddhism

New England Congregationalists first brought Protestant Christianity to the islands in 1820. Roman Catholic missionaries came to Hawaii in 1827. Quakers came in 1835 and Mormons in 1850. Methodists came in 1855, and members of the Church of England arrived in 1862.

Shortage of laborers to work in the growing sugar plantations prompted the Hawaiian Legislature to pass “An Act for the Governance of Masters and Servants,” a section of which provided the legal basis for contract-labor system (labor shortages were eased by bringing in contract workers from Asia, Europe and North America.)

Japanese immigration to Hawaiʻi that began in 1868 marked the beginnings of large-scale settlement and, with it, the establishment of a strong religious base of Buddhism.

A large wave of Japanese laborers started arriving in 1885; 29,000 Japanese traveled to Hawai‘i for the next nine years to work on sugar plantations under three-year contracts.

The history of formal Buddhism teachings in Hawai‘i can be traced to the arrival of Soryu Kagahi, a priest of the True Pure Land Sect and a native of Oita Prefecture.

Upon learning of the extreme hardship, both physical and spiritual, of the Japanese immigrants in Hawaiʻi due to the differences in language and culture, he came to Hawaii to comfort these immigrants and to help in alleviating their hardship.

Kagahi, the first Hongwanji minister, came to Hawai‘i to minister to the religious needs of Japanese immigrants and to share the teachings of Shakamuni Buddha and Shinran Shonin.

Upon arriving in Honolulu on March 2, 1889 (which is presently celebrated as Hawai‘i Kyodan’s “Kaikyo Kinen-bi” or “Hongwanji Day”, the founding day of the mission), Reverend Kagahi rented a house and hung a sign, “The Great Imperial Japan Hongwanji Denomination Hawaii Branch” and used it as a base for his religious activities.

He also traveled to Kauaʻi, Maui and Big Island and conducted religious services. He visited the Big Island on two occasions and helped the people in Hilo in founding the fukyojo, the forerunner of the present Hilo Betsuin. (Hilo at that time had a larger Japanese population than did Honolulu.)

In October 1889, Reverend Kagahi returned to Japan to report on the Hawaiʻi situation and to urge establishment of Jodo Shinshu in Hawaii. He also stressed the need for financial assistance to Hawaiʻi to carry forward these activities.

However, since authorities in Japan initially viewed the Japanese presence in Hawaii as “transient,” they did not see the need for a Hawaiian mission.

That changed in 1897 when the Japanese immigrants petitioned the Honpa Hongwanji headquarters in Japan and requested that Buddhist missionaries be sent to Hawai‘i.

They expressed the urgency and need for “community stability” – a stability achieved through religious institutions and the revival of cultural commonalities among the immigrants.

Leadership in Japan, now aware that the Japanese immigrant had become more than a transient, responded enthusiastically, and more missions were established.

The rise of Buddhism in a predominantly Christian environment was due, in part, to this deeper expression among the Japanese immigrants of their need for a sense of community.

Several of the sugar plantations were sympathetic and supportive of the desire for temples and donated parcels of land near the immigrant camps.

In 1898, the Rev. Honi Satomi arrived as the first Bishop of Hongwanji and property located off Fort Street at the end of Kukui, in the area called Fort Lane (just above Beretania Street and Central Fire Station) was purchased for the first site of the temple.

Queen Lili’uokalani and Mary Foster (donor of Foster Botanical Garden,) attended a Buddhist service in 1901 to commemorate the birth of founder Shinran Shonin.

In 1918, the Honpa Hongwanji Mission was built in Honolulu, the world’s first reinforced concrete Buddhist temple.

Several Buddhist sects came to Hawai‘i in the late-1800s and early-1900s to fill the needs of the early Japanese: Jodo Shin-shu Honpa Hongwanji Sect, Jodo Sect, Shingon Sect, Nichiren Sect, Jodo Shin Sect and the Higashi Hongwanji Sect.

Over the past 120 years, the Japanese community established 174 temple sites and through the process of building and rebuilding, constructed nearly 300 Buddhist temples throughout the islands, many of which were built in sugar plantation villages by early Japanese immigrants and served tiny congregations.

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Hilo Hongwanji Temple, 1889
Hilo Hongwanji Temple, 1889
Soryu Kagahi
Soryu Kagahi
Buddhism_in_Hawaii-Honpa Hongwanji Hilo Betsuin-(honoluluadvertiser-com)
Buddhism_in_Hawaii-Honpa Hongwanji Hilo Betsuin-(honoluluadvertiser-com)
Shinto_temple
Shinto_temple
Waipahu_Hongwanji
Waipahu_Hongwanji
Soto Mission Of Hawaii-Shoboji
Soto Mission Of Hawaii-Shoboji
Soto Mission Of Aiea-Taiheiji
Soto Mission Of Aiea-Taiheiji
Moiliili_Hongwanji
Moiliili_Hongwanji
Mililani Hongwanji Mission
Mililani Hongwanji Mission
Lahaina Hongwanji Mission
Lahaina Hongwanji Mission
Honpa Hongwanji Buddhist Temple-Honpa Hongwanji Mission of Hawaii is located at 1727 Pali Highway
Honpa Hongwanji Buddhist Temple-Honpa Hongwanji Mission of Hawaii is located at 1727 Pali Highway
Hanapepe Hongwanji Temple
Hanapepe Hongwanji Temple

Filed Under: Missionaries / Churches / Religious Buildings Tagged With: Hawaii, Japanese, Buddhism

August 18, 2017 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Maui Jinsha Shrine

A century after Captain James Cook’s arrival in Hawaiʻi, sugar plantations started to dominate the landscape. Sugar was the dominant economic force in Hawaiʻi for over a century.

A shortage of laborers to work in the growing (in size and number) sugar plantations became a challenge; the answer was imported labor. Starting in the 1850s, when the Hawaiian Legislature passed “An Act for the Governance of Masters and Servants” (providing the legal basis for contract-labor system,) labor shortages were eased by bringing in contract workers from Asia, Europe and North America.

The first to arrive were the Chinese (1852.) Then, in 1868, approximately 150-Japanese came to Hawaiʻi to work on sugar plantations and another 40 to Guam. This unauthorized recruitment and shipment of laborers, known as the gannenmono (“first year men”,) marked the beginning of Japanese labor migration overseas. (JANM)

In March 1881, King Kalākaua visited Japan during which he discussed with Emperor Meiji Hawaiʻi’s desire to encourage Japanese nationals to settle in Hawaiʻi; this improved the relationship of the Hawaiian Kingdom with the Japanese government. (Nordyke/Matsumoto)

The first 943-government-sponsored, Kanyaku Imin, Japanese immigrants to Hawaiʻi arrived in Honolulu on February 8, 1885. Subsequent government approval was given for a second set of 930-immigrants who arrived in Hawaii on June 17, 1885. More followed, and they brought their religion with them – some were Shinto.

Shintoism is not Buddhism; but, the two religions are compatible. While Shintoism involves the prehistoric deities of Japan, Buddhism worships the Buddhist gods imported from India, as well as the departed spirits of the family. (Johnson)

The name Shinto is translated to mean ‘The Way of the Gods;’ it embraces natural and ancestor worship. Shintoism has no system of theology or ethics, nor sacred scriptures or books such as the Bible or Koran. It teaches the innate goodness of the human heart. (Johnson)

There were once six Shinto shrines on Maui, located at Wailuku, Pa‘ia, Ma‘alaea and Kahului. The Maui Jinsha Shinto Shrine is the only remaining original Shinto shrine on Maui, and one of very few left in the entire state.

The Maui Jinsha was established in 1914 by Masaho Matsumura who was born in Hiroshima and came to Maui from Kona. More than 460 names were gathered, representing those who supported the establishment of the Maui Jinsha shrine. From this group, a nine member Board of Trustees led by Mr. Kaneko was formed.

A building committee, made up of seventy-six local officials from various Maui communities, served under the Board of Trustees. The building committee selected the shrine’s original site in Kahului, next to the Japanese Elementary School. (Mason)

Construction of the Haiden began in 1916 (the fifth year of Taisho) with the help of the 1,014 individuals who each pledged a dollar. The painting of the “1000 Horses” by the artist Seppo Sawada commemorates the dollar contribution effort

The Maui Jinsha was built in commemoration of the Emperor Yoshihito (the Taisho Emperor). Up until this point, there were no shrines dedicated to the emperor of Japan in Hawaii.

The Emperor Meiji passed away in 1911 and Emperor Taisho took his place the same year. This event sparked interest in establishing a shrine dedicated to the emperor of Japan, who was thought of as a god.

The shrine houses three gods directly connected to the emperor of Japan: the Amaterasu Omigami, the Okuni Nushi-no-mikoto, and the Meiji emperor.

The Amaterasu Omigami is the central god of the Ise Jingu and is said to have come down from earth and landed on Izumo Kuni and gave birth to Japan.

The distinctive entrance structure of Shinto shrines is called a torii, usually described as a gateway or mystical gateway. Nearby is a washbasin where the physical act of washing one’s hands and rinsing one’s mouth symbolizes spiritual cleansing in preparation of entering the church.

As originally constructed, the Maui Jinsha exhibited the traditional form of a Shinto shrine, with the Haiden (worship space) and the Honden (space for the gods) built as two separate structures. The Honden and Haiden were built as open structures connected by a small bridge or stairway (tsuro).

The Honden was completed in 1915 and the Haiden was finished a year later due to budgetary constraints (Fig. 6). Another structure for the presentation of shibai (Japanese folk plays) was completed at that time.

The structure was built by local craftsmen under the supervision of a master carpenter trained in Japan. The structure is made of wood using the traditional Kiwari system as the design and construction guidelines for this structure.

The Kiwari system can be compared to the orders of ancient Greece, because it uses the column span and diameter to establish the proportions of the entire structure.

The Kiwari uses the post span (a) and the post diameter (1/10a) to establish rafter spacing, bracketing size, beam size and roof size and height of several types of structures in Japan including temples, shrines, and halls.

The Kiwari developed as a system during the Edo Period (1603-1868). It is also likely that the Japanese measuring unit of the shaku was used to build this structure. The builders of the Maui Jinsha were somewhat limited to the extent with which they could adhere to these principles, due to the limitations of materials, time, and funds.

In 1924, the Maui Jinsha Kyodan formally applied for the “incorporation of the Maui Jinsha Kyodan of Kahului, Maui”, and on September 22 of that year they received the charter and were recognized as an official religious organization by the Territory of Hawaii.

After the attack on Pearl Harbor, the shrine was closed, and in 1942 the Shinto priest and his family were evicted from their adjacent home.

In 1951 they moved the shrine to Wailuku, The Honden was moved intact and the Haiden was disassembled and reconstructed on the new site, which was completed in 1954.

The shrine shares the site with three other structures: a Hall for shibui performances which also served as a Japanese language school (no longer active), a kitchen building and a private residence for Reverend and family.

The Hall was moved from the original site along with the shrine, and the kitchen building appears to have been constructed in 1954, at the time of the shrine relocation. The two-story residence was built in the mid- 1980s. (Lots of information here is from Mason, NPS and Historic Hawai‘i.)

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Maui-Jinsha-Mission-building-1916
Maui-Jinsha-Mission-building-1916
Maui-Jinsha-Mission-building
Maui-Jinsha-Mission-building
Maui_Jinsha-1000 horses
Maui_Jinsha-1000 horses
Maui-Jinsha-Mission-building-front elevation-Mason
Maui-Jinsha-Mission-building-front elevation-Mason
Maui-Jinsha-Mission-building-layout-Mason
Maui-Jinsha-Mission-building-layout-Mason
Maui-Jinsha-Mission-building-longitudinal section-Mason
Maui-Jinsha-Mission-building-longitudinal section-Mason
Maui-Jinsha-Mission-building-West side elevation-Mason
Maui-Jinsha-Mission-building-West side elevation-Mason

Filed Under: Missionaries / Churches / Religious Buildings Tagged With: Hawaii, Maui, Buddhism, Shinto, Wailkuku, Maui Jinsha Shrine

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