JODO MISSION OF HAWAII

BULLETIN(#1183-0212)

Jodo Mission of Hawaii 1429 Makiki St.

Honolulu HI 96814

Address Service Requested

DEN DEN MUSHI Each year Shukutoku University Panel Theatre Group called Den Den Mushi comes to Hawaii to perform a picture story show, visiting care homes, schools, and Jodo Missions. This year five students from Shukutoku University Panel Theatre Group Den Den Mushi will be in Hawaii in February, arriving on February 9 and departing February 16.

This year they will be going to Maui and will be performing for care homes, schools and visiting Lahaina Jodo Mission, Kahului Jodo Mission and Wailuku Jodo Mission.

Before returning to Japan, they will come to Honolulu for one night. They will do one last performance on TThursday, February 16 at 3:00 p.m. Please come and enjoy their performance. Refreshments will be served after their performance.

2011 photo of Den Den Mushi with Sunday School students and friends who enjoyed the performance by Den Den Mushi.

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Buddha’s Memorial Day Service (Nehan-e)Sunday, February 12th at 10 a.m.

Nehan-e is the Memorial Day Service of Shakyamuni Buddha. He is the founder of Buddhism. He passed away at the age of 80 about 2500 years ago on February 15. “Nehan” is “Nirvana” in Sanskrit. “Nirvana” means the state of things after a fire has been put out. In other words, it means that Shakyamuni Buddha put out the fire of bad things human beings have in their minds; such as, anger, confusion, sorrow and so on. Then, he completely reached Enlightenment on that day. Shakyamuni Buddha taught us how to live our daily lives and actually find meaning in our lives. Thanks to Shakyamuni Buddha, we can live with this wonder-ful teaching. Shall we express our great appreciation to Shakya-muni Buddha on this Nehan-e Service. TThe service will be held on Sunday, February 12th at 10:00 am. We look forward to your attendance.

This picture, the image of the passing of Shakyamuni Buddha, was drawn by Rev. Shokei Sasawaki (Osaka, Japan) Check out her web site! http://www009.upp.so-net.ne.jp/Moon-6

Bits of Knowledge about BuddhismVol.03 “How long are Omamori effective?”(Reprint from Feb. 2011)

By Rev. Yasuhiro Watanabe

Omamori are very popular items in shrines and tem-ples. They are charms to bring good fortune and expel evil. Each one has a different purpose. Some are for good health, traffic safety, happy marriage, success in business and study. People keep Omamori in their purses or hang them in their houses or cars. An Omamori of Jodo Mission contains a piece of paper on which is written one character in Sanskrit. It stands for Amida Buddha. Amida Buddha blesses you and your property. You can escape an accident through Buddha's grace. Please never open it even if you’d like to confirm that, or I’m afraid that it loses the above power. Trust me.

It is not true that Omamori are effective during just a year. It is a custom that we exchange old ones for new ones to show our respect for Buddha during the New Year holidays. We are thankful to be blessed last year and pray for our happiness this year. Some Omamori are for special purposes like success in study. In that case, you should return your Omamori to the temple when you accomplish your goal. We recommend that you should not throw old ones away because they are sacred just like a Buddha’s image. The ministers will dispose of the Omamori properly after blessing them.

We know Onembutsu is also the best way of enjoying the blessing of Amida Buddha. When you go to Las Vegas, you should remember to carry Omamori and say Onembutsu.

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Correction to Bishop Hara’s New Year’s Message:

We apologize for an error in Bishop Hara’s New Year’s message found on page 1 of our January 2012 Bulletin. The error was Amida Buddha is also called Muryoju Butsu, the Buddha of Eternal Light [should have been ““Eternal Life’] or Muryoko Butsu, the Bud-dha of Inifinite Light. Below is a reprint of that paragraph with the correction.

Honen Shonin stressed the belief in Amida Buddha’s original vow (hongan) and to call upon Amida Buddha’s sacred name wholeheartedly to secure salvation in this world and the world to come. In an age of social and political turmoil and chaos, Master Honen encouraged all people to live their lives following the path of Nembutsu, calling Amida Buddha’s holy name—NNamu Amida Butsu. “Namu” means “I take refuge in” or “to throw oneself to”, “Amida” stems from the Sanskrit Amitayus (Eternal Life) and Amitabha (Infinite Light). So that Amida Buddha is also called Muryju Amitayus (Eternal Life) and Amitabha (Infinite Light). So that Amida Buddha is also called Muryoju Butsu, the Buddha of Infinite Light. “Life” symbol-izes compassion and “Light symbolizes the wisdom that shines upon our ignorant minds. “Butsu” means Buddha, the Enlightened One, the Awakened One. Just as Master Honen did, we too are living in a time of turmoil, our temples, our society, and our world at large face many challenges, let us put our belief in the Nembutsu and work together for the future of Jodo Shu and our community.

Bishop shared his 2011 New Year’s Eve message which he gave at Lahaina Jodo Mission:

My heart is filled with gratitude as we are able to live in this moment and gather here tonight by the Great Compassion of Amida Buddha. Looking back at this past year, many lives have been lost in war and terrorist attacks. Many lost their lives and homes in an instant in the Tohoku triple disaster of earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear accident in Japan, and due to various natural disasters in the U.S. and around the world. People everywhere are suffering. At the same time, they are now feeling awe and respect for nature and realizing the importance of life.

Within the social and political chaos at the end of the Heian period (794-1185) in Japan, Saint Honen (1133-1212), the founder of our sect, Jodo Shu, taught that Amida Buddha would save all beings just as they are, giving people the strength, courage, and hope to live. This year, Jodo Shu commemorated the 800th Grand Memorial of our Great Master, Honen Shonin. Receiving his teaching with gratitude, we observed this once-in-a-lifetime celebration. Here in Hawaii, we celebrated this event in September at the Betsuin in Honolulu.

The Buddha taught us, “Living now in this life is a great blessing.” It is my wish that we en-joy this new year of our precious lives under the great compassion and guidance of the Buddha and live healthily and happily.

Namu Amida Butsu.

In Gassho,

Gensho Hara, Resident Minister

LIFE BEYOND DEATH Professor Soho Machida will be a guest speaker on Sunday

February 5, 2012 at our 10:00 a.m. Sunday Service. Please join us and welcome Professor Machida who has published many books. He is a professor, Graduate School of Integrated Arts and Sciences, Director, Center for Ecological Peace Studies, Hiroshima University. He was born as a son of Haiku poet in 1950. He practiced as a Zen monk for 20 years in a conservative monastery in Kyoto, but left for the United States in 1984. He has a MA from Harvard University and Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania. Taught at Princeton University (1990-1998), National University of Singapore (1998-2000), Tokyo University of Foreign Studies (2000-2005) before he moved to Hiroshima in 2006. Research Areas: Comparative Religion, His-tory of Civilization, Bioethics, and Peace Studies. He authored more than 20 books in Japa-nese, English and Korean, including Renegade Monk (University of California Press), CanMankind Overcome Religion? (NHK Books), Why Religion Prevent Peace? (Kodansha), etc. He also conducted monthly meditation seminars at Tokyo and Hiroshima.

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Vision for the Future (6)By Rev. Yubun Narashiba

I think Buddhism in America is very unique. It is not Mahayana, Thera-vada nor Vajirayana. I want to call American Buddhism "Ameriyana." Accord-ing to my personal observation, the following is the characteristics of Ameri-

yana Buddhists. First of all, they study a lot though information on Buddhism in English is very limited. They enter into the world of Buddhism by acquiring knowledge. Sometimes, they have more books about Buddhism than we have in our temple. They try to get more information from websites, movies, DVDs, video tapes or just by talking to Buddhist ministers. Secondly, they practice various styles of Buddhism. It is very common for them to prac-tice Zen meditation, and go to Pure Land temples at the same time. Some of them shave their head, some have long pony tail. Many of them are semi-vegetarians while others are more strict. Thirdly, many of them are very interested in Buddhist cul-tures. Some are practicing flower arrangement, calligraphy, vari-

ous kinds of martial arts, Yoga, Tai Chi and so on. Some enjoy wearing Buddhist outfits and others wear just ordinary clothes. Some shave their heads, some have long pony tail. Also, many of them are high-tech people though their lifestyle is pretty simple. In America, it seems like they are practicing Buddhism in the way which most fits to each individual. I think the future of our temple depends on if we can provide a comfortable place for

these people to pray and study. [Any questions, please contact Rev. Narashiba]

Tai Chi photo by HawaiiArtStudio

Karate photo by JMalin Photography

Bits of Knowledge of BuddhismVol. 15 The Best Day to Have a Relation to Buddhist Deities (Feb. 2012)

By Rev. Yasushiro Watanabe

15 2012 2

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Vol. 15 The Best Day to Have a Relation to Buddhist Deities (Feb. 2012)

Ennichi are the days connected to certain Buddhist deities. It is said that there will be a special reward for the prayers offered on these days at those deities’ temples. According to one theory, a Chinese Zen master began con-necting 30 days of a month to honor 30 deities. In Japan, it seems that Ennichi was established as a tradition at the end of Heian period, or about 800 years ago. For example; day 15 is for Amida Buddha, day 18 is for Kannon Bodhi-sattva, day 24 is for Jizo Boddhisattva, and day 30 is for Sakyamuni Buddha.

People visited temples to honor the specific deities on Ennichi. As many people came, the Ennichi fairs became popular. Then, temple towns, such as Asakusa in Tokyo, gradually grew around the Ennichi fairs. Even now, crowds of people gather on these occasions and enjoy the lines of street stalls. Ennichi feature shops with nostalgic foods, toys and games. Among them, the fair of “Togenuki” Jizo in Sugamo

happens three times each month. It is very popular and more than 40,000 people come and enjoy it. It is well known for a popular shopping street for the elderly ladies. “Togenuki” means a pair of tweezers and people believe that this Jizo can remove their pain and increase longevity. Page 5 Photo 1 Asakusa: Nakamise

Shopping Street

Photo 2 Sugamo: Jizo Shopping Street

HAWAII STATE JODO SHU FUJINKAI SCHOLARSHIPNamiye Nakamura Scholarship

The Hawaii State Jodo Shu Fujinkai offers a $750 Namiye Nakamura Scholarship to a Hawaii high school graduate or a member of the temple who wishes to further his/her education toward a degree or advanced degree in an accredited college or university.

The applicant for the scholarship must meet the following criteria:

1. Priority will be given to a student graduating from a high school in Hawaii.

2. If there are no graduating students applying, any applicant continu-ing their education may receive the scholarship.

3. Be accepted at an accredited university or institution of higher learning.

4. Possess good moral character and leadership potential 5. Be an active member of his/her respective Jodo Mission 6. Submit an application by AApril 15th

The family or legal guardian of the applicant must currently be a member of his/her respective Jodo Mission. Financial need will be considered. Determination of the scholarship recipient will be made by a Scholarship Committee.

If there are any questions about the scholarship, please consult Rev. Yubun Nara-shiba at 949-3995 or Jo Ann Matsuo of the Honolulu Jodo Shu Fujinkai at 422-6919.

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Sewing Circle

Feb. 11 & 25 8:30—11:00 a.m.

Fujinkai(women’s association)Feb. 5 at 8:30 a.m.

Ikoi Hall

YBA No Meeting in

February

Jodo Mission of Hawaii Children’s Choir “Malama”

Our Children’s Choir will meet on

22/19 at 10:45 at Hondo

2/26 at 10:45 in Temple basement

Any child ages 5 to 8 years old can join. Children will sing mainly Japa-nese songs and Buddhist gathas. Practice will be in Japanese.

Sunday School We welcome children to join our Sunday School. Let’s en-joy studying Onembutsu by do-ing various activities.

2/5 @ 10:45 will meet in Hondo

2/26 @ 11:15 will join Fujinkai New Year’s Party

Ukulele by Stuart Nago: Please come and enjoy ukulele music by Stuart Nago on Sunday February 19 at 10 a.m. after Sun-day Service. He may also play his guitar.

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Ozoni Soup for New Years

On January 8, 2011, Mrs. Yukari Narashiba and the Sunday School mothers prepared ozoni soup (sometimes known as mochi soup) for everyone to eat following the first Family Sunday Service for 2012. Ozoni is usually eaten as the first meal of the New Year for good luck and good health and although there are many varieties, the one main ingredient in all is “mochi”. Mrs. Narashiba and the Sunday School mothers want to THANK MR. TERUTO SOMA for providing his home-grown mizuna (green leaf vegetable found in most ozoni soup) each year..

Happy Men Eating Ozoni: Mr. Soma is the hand-some guy smiling on the right with his ozoni soup bowl in hand. Also with Mr. Soma above is David Miyamoto (left) Wallace Ota and Clifford Miyamoto

Happy Women after enjoy-ing ozoni. The other half of Mr. Soma is Mrs. Doris Soma who is above left with Ethel Miyamoto and Peggy Miyamoto

Photo at right is Yuki Akana (one of the Sunday School mothers) and Jo Ann Ma-tsuo (one of the Sunday School volunteers). Both smiling as they enjoy their ozoni soup.

New Year Blessing

Rev. Narashiba performed a bless-ing ceremony for anyone who wanted to participate. Left photo: David Miyamoto is

being blessed.

Below photo: Yoshiko Kitagawa is being blessed while others wait for their turn.

Clifford Miyamoto is being blessed while others wait in line

Announcements

ARIGATO!!

Did you enjoy the mochi you picked up on Thursday, December 29? Wasn’t it delicious? It was the efforts of all those who came out to help on December 28 and 29 that you were able to eat such delicious mochi!!

THANK YOU to all who came out to help on December 28 and 29 with the mochitsuki and preparation. It takes many, many people (Temple members, friends, relatives) to prepare mochi for all the orders the Temple members and friends ordered. May we see you again next year! This year some people took time off from work in order to help. We thank you for your time and hope you had FUN and enjoyed fellow-ship!

Oldtimers like MMasa Kitajima, Teruto Soma, Masa Oshiro, Richard Murashige, Doris Soma, Aki Nishiyama, and others who have all the knowledge of the ins and outs of mochi prepa-ration and mochi making. Everyone of these dedicated Temple members have their own unique specialty in mochi making and with their knowledge we were able to handle the huge amount of orders.

ARIGATO (cont’d)

At most of our large events - this past year it was Bon Dance in August, Bazaar in October and mochitsuki in December— the OOshiro fam-ily and friends aand the Kitajima family and friends have always supported this Temple with all their help and hard work. Also thank you to the Maki daughters. THANK YOU SO MUCH for your generosity and to see the many genera-tions helping.

There are many, many other family mem-bers and friends who have helped us this past year like the SSoma sons and friends, Yanagi-hara sons and also the FFisher family and friends who especially came out for our O-Toba set up. We sincerely appreciate your unselfish-ness.

THANK YOU also to MMartha Miura, Gene Ikeda and JoAnn Matsuo who come every Sat-urday to clean the Nokotsudo. THANK YOU JoAnn for also taking care of the recycling of cans, bottles, plastics and she purchases things for the Temple with what is made from the recycled products.

The Nokotsudo (Columbarium) gang can use more help. Anyone interested in helping, please contact the Temple.

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MOCHITSUKI PHOTOS

Blessing of the usu before the mochi pounding

A lot of people got to pound mochi, even Rev. Narashiba Photo above, Masa

Oshiro and Rocky Mishima showed how it’s done.

Amanda Youth showing her friend how it is done with Masa Oshiro giving guidance.

PHOTOS TAKEN AT MOCHITSUKI DAY: 12/29/11

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Rows and rows of the finished product—Okasane mochi.

Mochi rice is steamed then is grind several times before it is ready for shaped into round mochi.

Mothers and daughters, mothers and sons, old and young all working together to make mochi, shape mochi, finely dust mochi, weigh mochi and package the mochi orders.

The next generat ion!How nice to see the younger generation learning mochi making

Ladies dusting mochi for good presentation and at the same time enjoying fellowship; even Rev. Watanabe helped with the dusting.

Mochi are ready to be picked up

Mochitsuki—enjoy good fellowship!

Obituaries The Jodo Mission of Hawaii extends its sincere condolences to the family members and loved ones of the following members who have recently left this world for the Pure Land.

Takeo “Tommy” Okada 98 Setsuko Onaga 83 Yasuko Murakami 94 Wilfred Masaichi Taira 91

Jodo Mission Office Hours:

Monday to Saturday 8am—5pm

Sunday & Holidays 8am—3pm

Phone: 949-3995

Rev. Yubun Narashiba Head Minister

Rev. Kanjun Nakano Resident Minister

Rev. Dwight Nakamura

Retired MinisterPage 10

What is “Perpetual MemorialService?” (Eitaikyo)

This record of a perpetual memorial service and is called Eitaikyo in Japanese. When the date of death occurs for a person listed on this record, the ministers pray for that individual during the morn-ing service. The prayers will continue each year for as long as Jodo Mission exists. Anyone can be included in it. You may put your own name on the list, too. This also helps when it is difficult to have memorial services. We also wel-come you to attend the morning service at 8:30am.

How to apply Stop by the office, and fill out the application form. Each name costs $200. After the application is accepted, the name will be listed on the record.

Rev. Yasuhiro Watanabe Resident Minister

Hawaii Council of Jodo Missions Yoshimizuko of

Hawaii 2012 Japan Tour

April 8 to 15, 2012

Tokyo, visit to Zojoji Temple, new song and dance to be announced and a memorial service for the victims of Eastern Japan. Kamakura, visit to Ko-myoji Temple, Kotokuin Temple

Anyone interested, please contact Rev. Watanabe.

1. Itaro Yanagihara The Yanagihara Family Kisaburo Teraoka The Teraoka Family The Mitani Family Sumako Kishii

2 Kuma Kawamura The Kawamura Family Robert Hiroshi Yamanaka Dorothy Mieko Oshita

3 Rymond Hisashi Narahara Ayame kano

4 Kii Hirohama The Hirohama Family Kiyoe Soma Robert Takashi Maehara

5 Hatsu Konaka The Yano, Konaka & Hayashi Families Gorokichi Ishida The Ishida and AimotoFamilies Misao Mitsuyasu The Mitsuyasu Family Masaharu Kotake Tsugio Hayase Shigeyo Kawano

6 Matsuemon Tanimura (2) The Tanimura Family (2) Sawaichi Nakagawa Family Kimi Higashi Misae Ichida Bunji Kishii (2) Umeyo Yamamoto Dr. Yasuhiko Hayashi Patrick Seiji Yamamoto

7 Namie Nakamura Tsugi Hifumi Yoshizo Muramoto

8 Toshio Higa The Higa Family Yukie Higashi Tame Ito

9 Haruyo Yanagihara The Yanagihara Family Minoru Okawa The Okawa Family Kishichi Yoshikawa Kimie Tanaka Yoshiteru Sakaguchi

10 Satomi Yamamoto The Yamamoto Family Kame Uyehara The Uyehara Family Michie Watanabe Jimmy Nestegard Chiyo Tanaka

11 Minekichi Taniguchi The Taniguchi Family Tsuneko Nago The Nag & Kunimoto Families Rev. Shuen Inoue Sue Nishimoto Noboru Yamasaki Kameyo Fujita Hisae Yamato Sue Nishimoto

12 Sumie Kanoyama The Kanoyama Family Bishop Shinkyo Tachikawa Doris Umeno Nojima Yoshihiro Hata

13 Torajiro Kusunoki The Kusunoki Family Ichiro Yasumoto Fusakichi Kawanishi Haruyo Tarumoto Seijiro Takabayashi

14 Hajime Nishimoto The Nishimoto Family Kensuke Hironaka The Hironaka & Ishimoto Families Sae Tachikawa Hiroshi Sato Raymond Shizuo Asaumi Shigeyo Otani Takeji Gushikuma Matsu Kiyuna George Sotoshi Tarumoto

15 Kiyoshi Tsukiyama Otake Takara

16 Shigeru Asaumi The Asaumi Family Yukio Nakagawa Motoo Muramoto

17 Masuyo Shimokawa Masuyo Shimokawa The Shimokawa Family Kinzaburo Makino The Makino Family Kazuyo Hashimoto Choshiro Ikuta Tsuchiyo Fujimoto Reiko Hata

18 Reiji Yamane The Yamane & Harada Families Tsutako Yamanaka The Yamanaka Family Matsuyo Machida Otome Takara Tomiko “Ruth” Inouye Cory Ikuta

19 Chozo Kawano The Kawano Family Eijiro Murakami

The Murakami & Yamamoto Family Ishi Matsuda The Murakami Family Eijiro Murakami20 Ryozo Hamada The Hamada Family Magoichi Mineishi The Mineishi Family Taro Takara Tomoyo Takara Kimie Matsuda Sue Takabayashi Natsuko Aoki

21 Tamotsu Kuniyuki

22 Yoshi Hayashi The Yano, Konaka & Hayashi Families Kinu Nishimura (2)

23 Taichi Sato

24 Kame Akamine The Akamine Family Kikuno Hisamura Kamesuke Nakahama Takiko Yanagihara

25 Sue Maeda The Maeda Family Shinichi Takao The Takao Family Takayo Matsuo The Matsuo Family Shigeki Umemoto The Yoza Family The Shimabukuro Family Tamotsu Nakamura

26 Jirosaku Otani The Otani & Yanagihara Family Shiro Fukuda

27 Taichi Wakagi The Wakagi Family Keiko Hanano Noboru Hirano Shigeru Takata

28 Fukuichi Fukuda Mitsuyo GladysYoshihara The Goichi Kawamura Family Tsuru Kuniyuki

29 Nobue Kochi

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