March 2016

Haw ai i Ko t o h i r a Ji n sh a
Haw ai i Dazai f u Ten m an g u
where ancient t radit ions t hrive

Kanr eki Blessing
In Asian cultures, the aging
process is celebrated with thehonor and recognition itdeserves. In the U.S., we worship
youth and looking young andentering our 60s is approachedwith dread and humor about
having one's "foot in the grave."
Becoming 60 gives us anuneasy feeling that we have
moved into unknown territory.
For most of us, the first half of life
was defined by our work; in thesecond half, we may not have aclue as to who we really are.
Kanreki literally means"return" and "calendar," Theancient Japanese calendar wasorganized on 60-year cycles. The
cycle returns to its starting pointin 60 years and as such, Kanreki
celebrates that point in our lives
when we return to the Chinese
Zodiac sign under which we wereborn.
Kanreki prompts new
beginnings. It is customary forthe celebrant to be given a red
hat and red vest - clothes worn bybabies and thus symbolizes thecelebrant 's return to their birth.
Kanreki is a time to reevaluate our lives, when we may
begin to face our mortality, maketransformative changes andreaffirm a sense of gratitude forhe goodness and richness of ouryears.

listen to the callings of your soul.
Rituals afford us a sense of
belonging and gives us a way toconnect to family, past andpresent. it tie us to our ancestors
and to our heritage and helps us
to understand where we camefrom. As a bridge between pastand future - rituals strengthen
our own identity.

60s also heralds the need for us
to cultivate new relationships toour bodies For many of us, ourbodies no longer do what theyused to. They don't respond withthe grace and ease the once did.
Kaneki is a t im e t o:-t ake st ock of how lif e iswor king f or you
let go of what no longer
ser ves you
m ake t ransf or m at ive
changescr eat e your legacy

The shrine's Kanreki blessing
can be wonderfully life-affirming.
Instead of seeing the 60s as atime of loss, see it as a time toEmbrace the blessings of life it is a time of personal renewaland empowerment. Now is thetime to continue on with yourmiraculous journey, living life by
your heart. Celebrate Life !!

MAHALO f or your generous donat ions
Tom & Linda Agawa
Aloha Koi Appreciation
SocietyArika Mibu Briou
Kenneth Chambers
Susan Davis
Dean Fujimoto
Hanayagi Dancing
Academy HI Foundation
Bob Harada
Yuka Hashi
Seizo Imamura
Kyoko Isa

Fumimasa Ito
Tom Jannuzzio
Kyle & Ai Kawabata
Scott Kodama
James & Yukari Luksan
Shinken & Marilyn Naitoh
Craig & Diane Nishida
Karen Nishida
Akiko SanaiGary & Linda Shinsato
Alice Sugimoto
Sugimoto Ohana
Christopher WestKAIPO, the new shrine
dog is a 3 year-old male
Labrador Retriever, bornand raised in Waipio
Gentry.
Kaipo has a heavy bodyset and is extremely
powerful with a relaxed
temperament and a docile
personality.

HDAHF Annual Bl essing
The annual
blessing for theHanayagi
Dancing Academy
HawaiiFoundation wasperformed on
2/28.
HDAHF's
Maizome recitalwill be held on
Saturday, March
5 at the Mission
Memorial
Auditorium from1:00 pm. It 's freeand open to thepublic.

9t h Al oha Koi Show &10t h Nishikikoi Expo

Rev Takizawa performed the annual
blessing for the opening ceremony of theAloha Koi Appreciation Society's 9th Aloha Koi
Show and the 10th Japan Nishikigoi Expo atthe Waikiki Aquarium on February 13.
Pictured above is Rev Takizawa with James
Kinney, Dr. Andrew Rossiter of the WaikikiAquarium, Mitsunori Isa of Isa Koi Farms andTaro Kodama of Kodama Koi Farms in Mililani.

Jichinsai - Gr ound Beaking Cer em ony
A Jichinsai was performed ata private lot in Black Point onFebruary 15.
The Jichinsai or Groundbreaking Ritual is a traditional
Japanese ceremony performed
before the construction of anew building.

blessed with safe working
conditions and no harm to
those involved in theconstruction.

Jichinsai literally means"pacification of the grounds".
The kami are invited to bepresent - and to impart theirblessings on the sanctified
ground and people who aregathered.
In order to prepare the arrivalof the kami, Rev Takizawa
performed purifi- cation rites
and composed a special Norito
prayer to address the kami :Bless this structure that it
may be strong enough toweather the elements. May it
pulsate with goodness and flow
with good health andhappiness, creating a haven for
all who reside within its walls.
Bless those whose vision has
brought us to this moment, tothose who gave form, who labortirelessly to lay a firm
foundation. May this land be

May this building live lightly
on this earth, using resources
sparingly and respectfully.
Bless future generations whowill reside here. Cement thepast and the future with thepresent that we may be of one
accord through the generations.

One of the highlights of theceremony is the moment whenthe most important representatives ?break the ground? by
cutting grass on top of a moundcreated with sand using a sickle,
removing rocks with a hoe, anddigging the ground with aspade.
The ceremony concluded witha Naorai and Rev Takizawa
leading a toast congratulating
participants on the joyous
occasion and expressing how helooks forward to standing herewith them again for Jotosai when the ridge poles of thebuilding are set into placesometime in summer.
Mahalo to Mike Lee and Val
Tsutsumi for their kokua insetting up and breaking down.

Mahalo to Mike Lee forfabricating the religious
implements used - sickle, spadeand hoe.

View event phot os at : www.f l ickr.com/ phot os/ kot ohira-dazaif uKanr eki, Set subun &Valent ine's at t he Shr ine
The shrine held a special Kanreki Blessing for the Fire
Monkeys celebrating their 60th birthdays this year, followedby the annual Setsubun ceremony.
Rev. Takizawa was assisted by Masahiro Kuroda of Osaka
who will be attending the Senkoka program at Kogakkan
University this Spring. Masahiro was born in Arao city,
Kumamoto and will be following in his father 's footsteps inserving Yot suyam a Jinja in Kumamoto.
Pictured to the left is Rev Takizawa and Dr. Naitoh - 2 ofthe 3 monkeys of the shrine celebrating Kanreki. The 3rdmonkey is Tom Jannuzzio (busily preparing dinner when thisphoto was taken). Masahiro Kuroda is on the far right.

Yot suyam a Jinja? Yotsuyama Kofun Tumulus

was built sometime during the6th century and is said to bewhere a Buddhist boddhisatva- Kokuzo Bosatsu(?k??agarbha Bodhisattva)
descended on this earth,riding on a star.
A temple was built at thesite in 1070 by Noritaka
Kikuchi in honor of Kokuzo. In1605, the temple wasreconstructed by Kiyomasa
Kato which fueled popularity
in Kokuzo worship throughout
the Kumamoto and Kyushu

areas.
Kokuzo was thought to grant
worshippers wisdom on theirquest toward enlightenment,improvement in technicalskills, and artistic talents.
Eventually, the domain
became the fiefdom of the
Hosokawa clan and Kokuzo
worship continued to flourish.
A maku curtain with a Kuyo
crest was presented by the
Hosokawa clan to the temple
which eventually became its
official crest. A Kuyo crest is
well-known as the family

crest of the Hosokawa clan
and has the Sun in the center,surrounded by eight planets
excluding earth.
When Buddhism wasintroduced into Japan through
China in the late 6th Century,
the Japanese attempted tomerge Buddhism with Shinto
traditions. As a result,
Buddhist temples wereattached to Shinto shrines andvice versa.
Yotsuyama Jinja became a
Shinto shrine after the Meiji
Revolution in 1868.

www.e-shrine.org/ calendarofevents.html
Kineya Sakio (BrysonGoda) performed with otherrenown musical artists in aCharity Concert on 3/1 at
the famed Mitsukoshi
Theatre in Nihonbashi,Tokyo.
The concert was abenefit for thereconstruction efforts of thedevastating Tohoku
Earthquake and Tsunami.

Maint enanceCal endar
MARCH
63 pm
Sake Appr eciat ion
Fest ival

12- & 13 10 am - 4 pm
Honolulu Fest ival

APRIL
33 pm
Tsukinam isai

103 pmSpr ing Thanksgiving
Fest ival & Scholar ship
Pr esent at ion

MAY13 pm
Tsukinam isai

Door closers and bumpers
were installed on the halldoors on 2/11 by Mike Lee

Upgrades were made to
the shrine's lighting systemin the Shinsenjo on 2/12 byMike Lee.
Repairs were made to
the shrine's security video
system on 2/26 by Fred
Higa
Pothole patching blitz
continues in the parking lot
by Mike Lee, Bob Harada
and Rev Takizawa.

7 & 8 10 am - 4 pm
Doors were primed and painted
on 2/21 by Bob Harada

Pet Expo29

8 am
Honolulu Shint oRenm ei Mem or ial Day
Ser viceJUNE
59 am - 2 pm
Chinowa f or People& Pet s