Jodo Mission of Hawaii

Bulletin - JANUARY 2013

(#1194-0113)

Jodo Mission of Hawaii 1429 Makiki St.

Honolulu HI 96814

Address Service Requested

A Happy New Year!

*** New Year’s Greetings *** Gensho Hara, Bishop

A Happy New Year to you all! Wishing good health and peace to you and your family throughout the New Year. Last year, many observances and events were held at the Betsuin. This year again we will have many functions and activities. I want to thank each one of you for your membership and support for our Betsuin. May I humbly ask for your continued kokua for this year. The Betsuin was built with great pride, dedication, and sacrifices. The inscription above the entrance of the temple reads, “The Holy Temple of Pure Land Buddhism” in Sanskrit by the then-Jodo Shu Secretary General, the Venerable Kaigyoku Watanabe, who was a renowned scholar and leader in the Buddhist community. So next time you visit the temple, look up at the engraved Sanskrit letters and think about the pride and dedication of our pioneers in building the temple.

New Year’s Greetings

Cont’dGreetings from Bishop Hara:

Our temple is not only a place for religious practice, it is also a place for cultural awareness and a place to feel close to our ancestors. Without these connections, we are empty vessels. Bring your family, children, grandchildren, and friends to join in temple activities and services so that our younger generations can have a connectedness and relationship with our temple. As our world be-comes busier, more crowded, and hectic, it is important to have a quiet place to go. It is also im-portant to let the younger generation know that they have a connection to the temple so that they too know that there is somewhere for them to go when they feel overwhelmed and when they call Amida Buddha’s Name, they will never be alone. Our great master Honen Shonin taught us that “those who call Amida Buddha’s sacred Name—Namu Amida Butsu—diligently will receive countless blessings.” Guided by our great Master’s teach-ings with gratitude, let us live our lives embraced by the Great Compassion and wisdom of Amida Buddha. Namu Amida Butsu.

With Gassho,

Gensho Hara, Bishop

Message from Kyodan Board President

Aloha!

I hope everyone is ready for an exciting and fulfilling 2013! I have my res-

olutions typed out and ready to go! I hope you have fun goals for this year as

well, and make sure you reward yourself for your accomplishments.

As fellow Buddhists there are some things we can strive for together. First, let's do our

best to spread positivity every day through our smiles and acts of kindness. Second, when we

have a moment alone, let's send our love to our ancestors and thank them for all they have

done for us. Third, feel free to enjoy Jodo Mission of Hawaii's services, events, and activities.

Lastly, make the most of every moment of life, cherish your loved ones, and take the time to

see the beauty of nature.

I wish all of you happiness, good health, and prosperity for 2013!

With Warmest Aloha,

Jon Riki Karamatsu

President, Jodo Mission of Hawaii

Page 2

New Year’s Greetings

Akemashite Omedeto Gozaimasu! This means “Happy New Year!” in Japa-

nese. It literally means “Congratulations that a new year has opened up!” Since

we are humans, we made so many mistakes last year. However, finally the new

year has come for us to start a new life! The door of the year 2012 is closed and

now the door of 2013 is open! If you are regretting with this and that, let’s leave

them behind. If you are angry with someone, let’s forgive them. Do you remem-

ber one of the most important teachings in Buddhism? No Attachment! Now,

let’s start a new year!

If many good things happened to you during the past year, let’s pray for more good things to

happen in this year again. If you lost your beloved ones, let’s pray for them to be able to live hap-

py and peaceful second lives in the Pure Land.

New Year is a good time to make resolutions. Let’s make resolutions to live a good Buddhist

life during this year by saying the following prayer:

May Buddha help me to move forward,

May you help me to understand Your teachings and respect them,

May you help me to apply Your teachings to my daily life,

May you help me to practice Buddhist customs,

May you help me to share my happiness with others,

and

Please always be with me.

Now I would like to thank volunteers who worked so hard last year. Because of your help, the

activities of the last year such as O-Bon, Bon Dance, Bazaar, Mochi Making and so on were very

successful. Let me ask you for your continuous support to our temple.

At the end of my message, I also would like to thank those who made donations for repairing

our Ojizo-sama. As you may already know, our Ojizo-sama was dedicated for the healthy and

peaceful life of children and the safety of H-1 freeway, and also to offer our prayer for the spirits

of the deceased children and unborn babies. His damaged left hand is now being repaired in Japan.

We are expecting the Ojizo-sama to come back to Hawaii by the end of this month. The dedication

ceremony for the repaired Ojizo-sama will be announced in our news bulletin and you are cordially

invited to the ceremony.

I am sure hard times and glad times will be ahead, but if we trust in the power of Buddha and

work together, our future will be very successful. Now is the time to understand the role that each

one of us plays for the betterment of our community.

May Buddha keep on shining upon us and may you have a very Happy New Year!

In Gassho,

Rev. Yubun Narashiba

Jodo Mission of Hawaii

Head Minister

Page 3

January 1, 2013

Dear Members of Jodo Mission of Hawaii,

Shinnen Omedeto Gozaimasu!

Hon Nen Mo Yoroshiku Onegai Moshi Agemasu!

Please accept our best wishes for the New Year and we gratefully appreciate your support and cooperation during the past years. As we begin the New Year of 2013, we humbly ask for your kokua and continuous support and cooperation to sustain the temple in the face of inflating operational costs.

Your membership dues allow Jodo Mission to exist and remain a positive influence in the community. Our Board of Directors works totally on a volunteer basis. Our ministers are working hard to provide spiritual leadership through services, personal counseling, and other activities including delivering sermons, conducting weddings and memorial services, various blessings (baby, home, car, boat, office, get well, birthday), visiting care homes and hospitals, and giving religious instructions.

They are on call 24 hours a day. Your dues pay for our mailings, the costs of our functions, building maintenance and operations. By maintaining a strong membership, Jo-do Mission is able to continue to provide peace of mind to our members and respond to the needs of the community.

We are continually active in propagating the Pure Land Buddhism and public services in the community. The Board of Directors and ministers wish to hear your questions and concerns and urges you to join or renew your membership so that we may remain a viable and positive force in the community.

Our annual membership dues (Gojikai-hi) is $60 per year, or $5 per month. Upon re-ceipt of this letter, would you kindly send your membership dues made payable to Jodo Mission of Hawaii, and mail it to 1429 Makiki Street, Honolulu, Hawaii 96814. If your 2013 dues have already been paid, please accept our apology and appreciation for your support and please ignore this letter.

We thank you for your timely payments and donations. We also invite you to partici-pate in our various activities, Sunday Services, O-Bon, Bon Dance, O-Higan, Hanamatsuri or Buddha Day, Jodo-e or Bodhi Day, Fujinkai, Senior, Intermediate, or Junior Y.B.A., Sunday School, Children’s Malama Choir, and many other wonderful activities..

Should you have any questions, please feel free to call Jodo Mission of Hawaii at 949-3995.

In Gassho,

Page 4

GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING

As members of Jodo Mission of Hawaii, you are cordially welcome to attend the 2013 General Membership Meeting on Sunday, January 20, 2013 at 10:30

a.m., following the Gyoki-e Service (Honen Shonin Memorial Service) in the

temple. At the Annual General Membership meeting, new officers will be in-stalled. Please join us. Then following the religious and business portion, please

join us for a New Year’s party (see below).

Shinnenkai

新年会

New Year’s Party

Please join us for our New Year’s

Party following the Annual General

Membership meeting. All members

and friends are invited. Come and

meet your Board of Directors.

Date: Sunday, January 20

Time: 11:30 am (after Gyoki-e service and

General Membership Meeting)

Place: Jodo Mission Social Hall

Page 5

HYAKU-SAI

百 歳

To reach 100 years old or Hyaku

-sai is a precious age. Many of our

members are in their nineties. Are

there any members who are 100 years

of age or older? Please contact Jodo

Mission to let us know.

We would like to recognize these

Hyaku-sai members on Sunday, Janu-

ary 20, 2013 at our New Year’s Party

which follows our 10 a.m. Sunday

Service and General Membership

Meeting.

If you know of any member 100

years old or old or who would be 100

by January 20, 2013, please contact

Jodo Mission. Thank you.

FAQ: How should we discard Kagami Mochi?

ANS: Because of the unique climate of Hawaii, Kagami Mochi gets moldy much faster than Japan.

Therefore, it is recommended to take them down after the three holy days of the New Year (i.e.

on January 4th), though it is the common practice in Japan to keep them until January 11th.

After you take them down, it is the best if you eat them. However, in Hawaii, it is quite possible

that the Kagami Mochi is already moldy. In that case, sprinkle a dash of salt on the Kagami Mochi

to purify them just like Sumo wrestlers purify the Sumo ring with salt and put them in a paper bag

or wrap them with paper such as news paper, and then throw them away.

Page 6

Bits of Knowledge of Buddhism Vol. 23 St. Honen’s Exile from Kyoto (Part 2) (Jan. 2013)

By Rev. Yasushiro Watanabe

The last article gave the background of St. Honen’s Exile. Now, I

will continue the story with his reaction and words.

The students rushed into St. Honen’s residence and said to him, “You are to be

exiled to Shikoku. Master Honen, you are almost 75. Once you leave the capital, we

don’t know when we will be able to meet again. It may be the last time we ever lay eyes on you in this world.”

St. Honen replied calmly. He said,

Even if we lived in the same city, it may not be long before we are sepa-rated by death. And even though I must journey over mountains and seas

to my new home in a distant land, we will meet again in the Pure Land

blessed by Amida Buddha…. I have grown old since I began teaching the

single-minded practice of Nembutsu here in the capital. I have often thought that I wanted to travel to a country far from here to teach Nem-

butsu. So even though I will be sent into exile, in fact I will get my wish.

This situation brings me great happiness…. Even if some people try to pro-

hibit the teaching of Nembutsu, the Original Vow of Amida Buddha is great

and genuine. They cannot stop the true teaching by any means. I cannot help saying Namu Amida Butsu even if I am put to death.

The students wept at St. Honen’s beautiful words and strong will. Then, St. Ho-

nen sent a poem in reply to the former Prime Minister Kanezane who was a devout supporter of Jodo Shu.

Though we may vanish like dew from the earth

At any moment and at any place:

Our cherished wish to meet each other On the lotus flowers in the Pure Land

Will be realized.

This beautiful poem has been familiar to Jodo Shu members as a Goeika song, named “Hana no Utena no Goeika”. (See below) St. Honen tells us that we will surely meet

again in the Pure Land even though we become separated in this world. Even in a most

difficult situation, he continued to teach us great lessons and bring us joy and hope.

(To be continued)

花のうてなのご詠歌「露の身は ここかしこにて 消えぬとも 心は同じ 花のうてなぞ」

大意：名残りは尽きませんが，おくれ先立つは世の習いです。草葉の露のようにはかない私たちの

命です。お互いの身が都で果てようともどこで果てようとも，共に極楽浄土の蓮の台でお会いしよ

うという思いに変わりはありません。

Page 7

GYOKI-E CHUTOBA FORM 2013（御忌会中塔婆申し込み用紙） Deadline: January 10, 2013

YOUR NAME（お名前）：＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿PHONE（お電話番号）：＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿

NAME OF DECEASED（亡くなった方のお名前）：

1._________________________________________________________

2.____________________________________________________________

3.____________________________________________________________

4.____________________________________________________________

One Chutoba is $ 7.00 × Total of Chutoba ＿＿＿＿＿＿ ＝ Total ＄＿＿＿＿＿＿

（中塔婆 1本 7ドル） （本数） （合計）

FOR OFFICE USE ONLY Order accepted by: _______________ Date accepted: _______/______/ 2013 (In person / Mail / By phone)

Received by: _______________ Date paid: _______/______/ 2013 (Cash / Check # __________ ) Write_______

-------------------——----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gyoki-e (Honen Shonin’s Memorial Service)

Gyoki-e means the me-

morial service for Honen Shonin.

Honen Shonin, who is a founder

of Jodo Shu, passed away on Jan-

uary 25th, 1212. He was 80 years

old.

After Honen Shonin

passed away, his disciples and

believers started to have a memo-

rial service for him on the 25th of

every month. The biggest cere-

mony was held on 25th of Janu-

ary every year. This service was

held not only locally in Kyoto but

it spread all over Japan. In those

days, the word “Gyoki” meant

the anniversary of the deaths of

the Emperors or their wives. The

word “Gyoki” was such a respect-

able word for the Emperor's fam-

ily.

Three hundred years later,

after Honen Shonin passed away,

the Emperor Gokashiwabara

mandated Jodo Shu to call the

anniversary of Honen Shonin’s

death “Gyoki”. Since then, peo-

ple called his annual memorial

service “Gyoki”. This occasion

implied that Honen Shonin was

clearly accepted and revered by

the Emperor and the people.

Our Gyoki-e service will be

held on January 20th at 10 a.m.

Please join us.

Chutoba is available for this

Gyoki-e service. At this service

you may also honor your

deceased ancestors with a Chuto-

ba prayer. See above Chutoba

order form.

Founder of Jodo Shu :

Honen Shonin (1133-1212)

Honolulu Jodo Shu Fujinkai—Annual Appreciation Luncheon

Honolulu Jodo Shu Fujinkai ladies held their annual appreciation luncheon on

November 25 at Tree Tops Restaurant and invited the many volunteers who supported

them, including husbands, especially during the bon dance in August with sushi mak-

ing, selling, yaki soba making and sales and Hanafuda card sales. Looks like every-

one had a nice time!

Page 8

Hawaii Buddhist Council Bodhi Day Celebration (Celebration of the Day Buddha was EnlightenedUnder the Bodhi Tree)

Held at Higashi Hongwanji on December 9, 2012

Honpa Hongwanji Choir performed under

the direction of Mrs. Mitsuyo Saito. Just

so nice to hear the Choir sing You Can

Build A Bridge; Song of Bodhi Day; and

The Wondrous Gift of Peace.

Jodo Mission of Ha-

waii’s representatives

for the offering of in-

cense and flowers were

Takeru Nii and

Makoh Nii. They are

pictured at left with

Sophie Narashiba.

Fujinkai (women’s association)

January 6

at 8:30 a.m.

Ikoi Hall

YBA

No Meeting in January

Sewing Circle

No Sewing Circle in January

Jodo Mission of Hawaii

Children’s Choir “Malama”

1/6/13: After Family Service

Refreshments

Page 9

Sunday School

We welcome children to join our Sun-

day School. Let’s enjoy studying Onem-

butsu by doing various activities.

1/6/13 Family Service Refreshments Sunday School mothers will assist

with ozoni refreshments

1/20/13 at 11 a.m.: Sunday School will join

New Year’s Party

MAHALO

Thank you everyone who came for gen-

eral clean-up of the Temple, including

the Columbarium or Nokotsudo on

December 2, 2012. Your hard work and

dedication to the Temple are deeply

appreciated.

Thank you to Children’s Malama Choir

for their performance before Santa’s

appearance at the Sunday School Year

End Party.

Thank you to Sunday School for inviting

everyone to their Year

End Party and sharing

their visit with Santa.

What an enjoyable

treat after general

cleaning!

Children’s Malama Choir: Strider, Himawari, A’Marie,

Sophie & Takeru sang 3 songs: Rudolph the Red Nose

Reindeer, Jingle Bells and Japanese New Year song

“Oshogatsu”. What a treat!

After cleaning, members enjoyed a

visit from Santa who

had been on a diet!

Then enjoyed a pizza luncheon sponsored

by the Sunday

School.

First Sunday Service in January 2013: January 6, 2013 at 10 a.m. is the

first Sunday Service for 2013. Please join us. Our guest speaker will be Dr. George

Tanabe who is a Professor Emeritus in the Department of Religion at the University of

Hawaii and/or Dr. Willa Tanabe, his wife who is Professor of History. They will dis-

cuss their new book entitled: A Guidebook to Japanese Buddhist Temples in Hawaii.

Please join us as we begin a new year!

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.

Bert Takeshi Higa 64

Kenneth Keigo Morimoto 81

Esther Tsureyo Kuniyuki 89

Kazue Ukeda 98

Joy Katsuno Yoshino 73

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 Minister

Page 10

What is “Perpetual Memorial

Service?” (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

Jodo Mission of Hawaii

Website

For those with computers, please visit

our website:

www.jodo.us

to learn more about us. Thank you.

Wedding Services, Baby Blessings,

House Blessings are available

upon request.

Please call 949-3995 to schedule a

wedding, blessings for home, car,

boat, office, birthday, illness, etc.

1 Sekitaro Hirohama

The Hirohama & Kawasugi Family Kenji Fujikami

The Hashimoto Family The Ohara Family Haruko Ikuta

Tsugio Takamatsu Family Tomomitsu Kawamura The Kawamura Family

Fukuda Tokusaburo’s Father Hon-yo Jo-dai Shin-ji The Fukuda Family

The Nakamura Family Chukichi Asamura Toyo Asamura

The Masuda & Asamura Family The Yamasaki & Hara Family The Yoshizaki Family

The Matsushita Family The Aoki Family The Sakuda Family

The Okamura Family Stanley Satoru Morimoto

2 Richard Hichiro Kawamoto 3 Hideo Toyoshiba

Yoshitaka Wada 5 Kiyo Fujikami

The Fujikami Family Shizuyo Morisako Kasuke Yamane

Jiro Nakamura Randall Loreg The Loreg Family

6 Kikuyo Yamasaki Eiichi Fujita

Shigeharu Ohata 7 Jiro Oyabu

The Oyabu & Kondo Family Kazuko Nomiyama Tetsuko Miyamoto

Kama Takata Ruth Shigeko Tarumoto

8 Matsujiro Otani (1) The Otani Family The Yanagihara Family Toshio Isoibe

The Isobe Family Matsujiro Otani (2) Taketo Sumimoto (1)

Juichi Uesugi Fusataro Higuchi Taketo Sumimoto (2)

Kenji Miyakawa Nobu Kishimoto

9 Taka Tomonari The Tomonari Family Asa Hayashi

Hisako Takamura 10 Hiroko Yoza

The Yoza Family Kami Higa The Higa Family

Bishop Ninryo Nago The Nago & Kunimoto Family

11 Tokoe Imaguchi The Imaguchi Family Hatsuko Hayashi

The Hayashi Family Masakichi Teruya Reginald Hisao Hisamura

Uichiro Ishii Kohei Umeda Matsuyo Yamamoto

12 Heiji Fukuda (1) Heiji Fukuda (2)

The Fukuda Family Nagao Yamada Shokichi Harada

Tadashi Yanagihara 13 Bishop Jiko Kuya

Shima Morita Shizue Fujita Shima Morita

14 Akitaka Chikamoto The Ohta Family

Genzo Yanagihara The Yanagihara Family Tsuchiyo Kimoto

Miyoko Kaya 15 Tane Nagata (1)

The Nagata Family Sukeichi Kameoka The Kameoka Family

Tane Nagata (2) Mildred Misako Tanimura Shizue Kimura

16 Take Shinagawa Tomojiro Fujita

The Fujita Family Kenji Iwamoto Chiyoka Mizuno

Seiichi Shimamoto 17 Hanayo Taniguchi

Kame Okamoto Moto Kawasugi Nobuo Hayashi

18 Kiyomatsu Daitoku (1) The Daitoku Family The Kawauchi Family

Katsutoshi Takada The Takada Family Kiyomatsu Daitoku (2)

Itaro Kurihara The Kurihara Family Masao Ishii

Shoichi Ishida 19 Tai Kawano

The Kawano Family Chiyo Tomai The Tomai Family

Miyo Ueno The Ueno Family

20 Shinazo Nishiguchi The Nishiguchi Family Noboru Ajimura

The Ajimura Family Kiku Kimura

Yuriko Nishimoto

21 Sueko Higashimura Kiku Kimura

The Kimura & Muroshige Family Masao Teruya

Takeo Yamane Shimo Hatanaka Hiroshi Furuya

Tsuneko Shintaku Koichi Ronald Namihira

22 Masae Tanimura Konoshin Kimura Fukukichi Tatei

23 Shokichi Fukumoto The Fukumoto Family

Takeo Yoshihara The Yoshihara Family The Tanaka Family

Jiro Kiyama Ralph Toshiaki Hashimoto Terry Kazuo Yorimoto

24 Heikichi Isobe The Isobe Family

Machi Yokoyama The Yokoyama & Morita Family Toranosuke Kinoshita

Tane Kinoshita The Kinoshita Family Tsune Aoki

George Masao Tanaka Helen Katsuko Ito Tetsuo Shinohara

25 Taka Fukuda The Fukuda Family

Saiichi Hyodo Joseph Yoshihiko Fujihana Sadako Oki

Teruko Mamiya The Sato Omura Family

26 Take Arita The Arita Family Haruo Nakamura

The Nakamura Family Kimio Yagi The Yagi Family Sueyoshi Yanagihara

Yoshi Yamamoto Chester Takeo Kaita

27 Seiichi Fujimoto The Fujimoto Family Takeshi Sato

Charles Shoichi Kimura Hiroko Nakano

28 Yoshie Sato The Sato & Suzuki Family Sae Higashimura

The Higashimura Family Tome Yamanaka The Yamanaka Family

Chizuko Saeki Sadamu Iwamoto Yooko Fujimoto

29 Tomo Isobe

Hana Kinoshita

The Kinoshita Family Jisaburo Kanemoto The Kanemoto & Miyamoto

Family Kansuke Shintani Fusao Taniguchi

Ralph Hitoshi Tanaka Toshito Fukuda

30 Kumaichi Tomonari The Tomonari Family Tsunejiro Kawasaki

The Kawasaki & Nakagawa Family Ine Yoshizaki

The Yoshizaki Family Tomota Kakehashi Masao Kume

Akio Matsuda Kiyoshi Kamimura Barbara Okimoto

31 You Kawamura The Kawamura Family

Shizuko Aoyama Kaname Yamanaka Takeo Tanaka

Shigeno Ohara

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