Hawaii Kotohira Jinsha
Hawaii Dazaifu Tenmangu FEBRUARY 2021

Mainenance Project for 2021 is the repair of the second floor walkway

A House Blessing was performed for a shrine friend on 2/2

DONATIONS
Dan & Chie Aramaki
Bill & Keiko Doughty
Kei Enoki
Dale Hiramoto
Yurie Ho
Arashi & Pam Igarashi
Art K. Isa
Arthur Isa
Rodney & Sharon Isa
Mike Lee
Steve Miwa
Blake & Eri Murakami
Shinken & Marilyn Naitoh
Craig & Diane Nishida
Robert Piemme
Akiko Sanai
Gary & Linda Shinsato
Robert Stallings
Brendan Toyoshima
Nicholas Tsutsumi
Valerie TsutsumiAsuka Tsuzuki

2021 is the year of the Metal Ox.

RAT - fewer hardships this year

The Metal Ox year is a time forhonesty, hard work, duty anddiscipline. Like the Ox plowing thefield - success is achieved by diligent
work and conscientious effort.

OX - Reap the benefits of the efforts
you've made over time

The metal elements like clean, tidy,
positive environments - so begin
2021 by cleaning, reducing clutter
and maintaining a sanitaryenvironment throughout the year.
Metal elements rule the lungs. If
you smoke, this may be anopportune year to quit.
The Ox is a powerful animal who
has the ability to transform thenegative challenges of 2020 into
positive outcomes.
Daring new concepts will not farewell. Tried-and-true methods willbring a bountiful harvest in fall
2021.

TIGER - work hard and stay focused
RABBIT - don't be frustrated if things
are taking longer to come to fruition
DRAGON - stay focused and refrainfrom meddling
SNAKE - career goals can be attained
HORSE - maintain control in personal
interactions
SHEEP - challenging year - stay positive
MONKEY - difficult year that requires
hard work and discipline
CHICKEN - favorable year of stability
and success
DOG - persevere through the minor
roadblocks
PIG - many opportunities for careeradvancement

Kanreki celebrates that point in ourlives when we return to the Chinese
Zodiac sign under which we were born.
Kanreki is a time to re-evaluate ourlives, when we may begin to face ourmortality, make transformativechanges and reaffirm a sense ofgratitude for the goodness andrichness of our years.
The Kanreki blessing can bewonderfully life-affirming. Instead ofseeing the 60s as a time of loss, see it
as a time to listen to the callings ofyour soul.

Setsubun or Bean Throwing
was performed on 2/14.
In ancient times, the beginningof each season was called
Setsubun and various rituals
were performed for theremoval of negative energies.
Setsubun merged with aChinese practice of demon
exorcism called Tsuina
sometime during the 12thcentury.

CALENDAR
MARCH
7

3:00 pm (CANCELED)
Sake Appreciation
Festival28

3:00 pm (INTERNAL)
Tsukinami-sai Monthly
ServiceAPRIL
24

1:00 pm
Clean up & Prep25

3:00 pm (INTERNAL)
Spring Thanksgiving
Festival & ScholarshipAwardsKanreki Blessing was performed fora shrine friend on 2/3

GOKITO Private Blessings

A Family Blessing was performed
for shrine friends on 1/20

Welcome to the world, Randy!!

A Rememberance ceremony forshrine friend Karen Fujishima Lee
was conducted on 2/8.
Although our love is constant - our thoughts, feelings, regrets andmemories can change as every
death anniversary passes.
A Remembrance ceremony was awonderful way to honor Karen who left an amazing legacy.

Congratulations on a new job,new city and new beginnings!

Anzan Safe Birth blessing wasperformed on 2/8......Wherever a beautiful soul has
been, there is a trail of beautiful
memories

Yakudoshi years are said tohold many physical andemotional challenges,
especially Hon-Yaku (MajorYaku) years which are 42 formen and 33 for women.
Crisis is an opportunity for
growth and Yakudoshi is a time
to look within yourself,
recognize and acknowledge thechanges, take stock of your lifeand set new goals.

Yakudoshi blessings are meant
to reconnect your spirit withinto help you through thechallenges and may be
performed using the Japanese
age system of kazoe or western
system of man.
2021 Group Kanreki andYakudoshi blessings have beencanceled. Please contact theshrine for a private blessing.

A virtual Yakudoshi blessing was performed on 2/9 for a shrine
friend in Taiwan. Her parents offered tamagushi on her behalf.

M aeyak u
Pr e-Yak u

Hon yak u
Yak u dosh i

At oyak u
Post -Yak u

M EN
1998
1981

1997
1980

1980
1979

WOM EN
2004
1990

2003
1989

2002
1988

A Yakudoshi blessing was performedfor a shrine friend on February 8Shubun no Hi or the Spring Equinox falls on March
20 this year. It was formerly known as Shunki
Koryo Sai or the Spring Festival for imperial
ancestors, a tradition imported from China.
This tradition of imperial ancestral worship in
China appears on ancient documents from about
2500 years ago. Ancestral worship for the masses
were observed a few days after the imperial
ancestral worship day in a festival called Ching
Ming.
Imperial ancestral worship was adopted in Japan
during the 12th century and was changed
following Japan's Constitution in 1948 which
separated church and state. The name of thenon-religious holiday was officially changed toShunbun no Hi.
Many families still visit
the graves of ancestors
on Shunbun no Hi toclean them and placeflowers.
It's also a day to makeand share Ohagi rice cakes
your ancestors.

withHUNKY DORI
M ean in g: Perfect or just fineOr igin : On July 1853, Commodore Matthew Perrysteamed into the harbor of Edo (later Tokyo) in his
Kuro-fune black ships, ending 250 years of isolation ofJapan from the rest of the world.
Yokohama became the center of foreign trade since
its opening in 1859 and prospered after the Meiji
Restoration of 1868. Honcho-dori street in theTsurumi-ku district was chosen as the site of foreign
settlement.
Perry's sailors venturing out in search of entertainment often found themselves lost in a maze of alleys
when returning to their ship. However, once theyfound Honcho-dori, which led to the dock, everything
would be Hu n k y dor y. Hu n k y dor y is said to be theAmericanized pronunciation of Honcho-dori.

MAINTENANCE
Every structure requires
maintenance to ensure optimal
performance over its life cycle.

and fallen from the walkway.
Spalling not only affects theaesthetic appearance of thewalkway, but also affects thestructural performance andstability.

Maintenance is a continuous
activity and the shrine's
maintenance project for 2021 isrepairing the deeply spalled
concrete walkway above the hall.
In the spring of 1962, the shrine
finalized the sale of 30,786 sq. ft
of shrine land to the State for theCLICK
constructionof H-1.

HERE

The risk is falling and damaging
property or even worse, hitting aperson walking below.
With no space to expand out,
shrine officers opted to go up.
Instead of adding a story on topof the existing priest's quarters,
they jacked up the building 16
feet and tucked another story
underneath, to house the socialhall.
Over time and with increased
exposure to the elements,
untreated pieces of concrete havespalled, cracked, frayed, chipped

The spalling was identified a few
years back and was being
monitored these past few years.

Presently, the spalling damage isseemingly about 1/3 of thethickness of the concrete.

entering and in case of collapsed
debris. The entire patio andsecond floor walkway area wasalso barricaded.

Usually, if the damage is greaterthan 1/3 of the depth, new steel
rebars must be reinstalled and afull depth restoration would berequired.
Minor repairs were done over theyears until a full-repair date could
be agreed on by both the shrine
and the preschool.
Structural hazards were verified
by a structural engineer last year
who recommended immediate
attention to the problem.

Using a saw, hammer and chisel,a portion of the walkway wasinspected. The damage wasgreater than 1/3 of the depth.
The "Walkway Project" began on
2/16. Weather permitting, theproject will take about 7 - 10 days
to complete.

The entire area of the walkway
will be removed during the next
few days to expose thedisintegrated rebars.

On February 15, all play apparatus
was removed from the area
directly below the walkway. Rev.
Takizawa swept, scrubbed andhosed off the walkway and patioarea below in preparation for the
installation of the shoring andscaffolding the next day.
On February 16, the area directly
below the walkway was cordoned
off to prevent anyone from(to be continued in the March issue)