Volume 4 Issue 6

Hawaii Kotohira Jinsha
Hawaii Dazaifu Tenmangu

WHERE ANCIENT TRADITIONS THRIVE

June 2014

Chinowa for People & Pets
A procession of humans, dogs, cats,birds, rabbits, and hamsters went through theChinowa ring on Sunday, June 1 for the 9th
annual Pet Blessing at the shrine.
Some pets hung around for some“yappy hour” while others slurped Pet ShaveIce. As usual, all had a tail-wagging goodtime.
Mark your calendars for the next Pet
Blessing Festival and Chinowa Ring ofRenewal on Sunday, June 7, 2015.

View more shrine photos at www.flickr.com/photos/kotohira-dazaifu
KITV video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8q76tWyUhM
KHON video at: http://youtu.be/3d7Tbd1i3HI

MAHALO for your generous donations
Thomas & Linda Agawa
Doughty Ohana
Clark & Gayle Fujihara
Cynthia Fujino
Bob Harada
Stacy Hayashi
JoAnn Hino
Kimie Hirabayashi

Kimberly Hironaka
Kyoko Isa
Rodney & Sharon Isa
Lance & Jessie Ito
Lorraine & Elsie Kadota
Dennis Kim
Elaine Komatsu
Christine Lai

Mike Lee
Scott Mason
Shinken & Marilyn Naitoh
Craig & Diane Nishida
Clyde & Gayle Nishimoto
Amy Okazaki
Lynne Richey
Mary Schumaker

Debra Shimoda
Karen Tasaka
Anna Tokumaru-Bain
Claire Tong
D-Anne Uyeda
Edna Yaguchi
Dale Yamamoto

MAHALO Volunteers
Ricky Crum
Keiko Doughty
Carl Estrada
Debbie Apuna Estrada
Alyssa Fujihara
Gayle Fujihara
Jeff Fujioka
Kathy Hamada-Kwock
Bob Harada
Stacie Hata
Kai Igarashi
Arthur K. Isa
Arthur MJY Isa
Tom Jannuzzio
Lorraine Kadota
Moana Kimura
Elaine Komatsu
Milton Kwock
Calvin Mai
Marilyn Naitoh
Milena Naitoh
Shinken Naitoh
Craig NishidaDiane Nishida
Karen NishidaDiane Ogasawara
Carol Omura
Stuart Pang
Bethany Schwartz
Stacie Shiroma
Yuko Takahashi
Naomi Teramoto
Sharon TomaUH NICE Program
Dane Yamada

Page 2H A W A I I KO T O HI R A J I NS H A

Congratulations

Article in MidWeek
The shrine andMelvin Monces, the2014 recipient of theshrine’s Scholarshipwere featured in anarticle written by Dr.
Jay Sakashita on theMay 21 edition ofMidWeek.

Shrine volunteer Alexandra Yuriko Rothgraduated from UH Manoa last month with two
Bachelor’s Degrees at the age of 19!
Alexandra is pictured above with her parents,Mitch and Noriko of Hilo.

Read the full article
at the below link or on
the shrine’s Website.

http://www.e-shrine.org/inthenews.html

20-year Milestone
On June 15,
Rev Masa Takizawa
will begin his 21styear of service tothe shrine.
Rev Takizawa
was born andraised in Nagoya
and was ordained
as a Shinto priest
in 1992 uponcompletion ofgraduate studies
in Shinto at Kogakkan University in Ise.
He served at Shiroyama Hachimangu shrine inNagoya for three years before moving back to Hawaii to serve at Kotohira Jinsha– Hawaii Dazaifu
Tenmangu from June 1994.
VOLUME 4 ISSUE 6

Pictured above are the newlyweds, Mr. & Mrs.
Usami, visiting from Fukuoka. Mrs. Usami is aformer Miko shrine maiden at Dazaifu Tenmangu,Fukuoka. Miko shrine maidens are single females
that must retire upon marriage or at 26 years of age.
Page 3

Makiki Cemetery
The annual Honolulu Shinto Renmei Memorial Day service was performed on
Sunday, May 25 at Punchbowl, Makiki Cemetery and Moiliili Cemetery.
This service has been performed by the four shrines on Oahu for over 50 years tohonor fallen heroes of both the U.S. and Japan military, as well as U.S. troops whoare currently fighting overseas and the Japanese immigrants who gave their all tohelp build and strengthen the island community.
Makiki Cemetery, the oldest and largest of the state-owned facilities, is locatedon the corner of Wilder, Pensacola and Prospect streets. It has about 4,000 graves on
7 acres and was established in 1877 to accommodate Native Hawaiians, but waslater opened to all ethnic groups.
A large natural stone monument at Makiki Cemetery honors the Japanese plantation workers known as gannen mono or the "first year men", who arrived from
Yokohama harbor in 1868. The approximately 150 men and women came from diverse backgrounds - urban dwellers,
displaced samurai, tradesmen, craftsmen and an assortment of rogues.
The treatment of Gannen mono by the plantations caused a negative impression of Hawaii in Japan. Japan therefore,
blocked further migration until the Hawaiian government agreed to protect the laborers. It took 17 years of negotiations to rejuvenate Japanese immigration in Hawaii.
In February 1885, the steamer City of Tokio brought 900 Japanese immigrants toHawaii. The young, single males working under three-year binding contracts camewith dreams of making their fortunes in Hawaii and returning to Japan with status andwealth.
The stone memorial honoring the gannen mono who arrived in 1868, stands next toa granite memorial known as Yosebaka.
In 1885 the first kanyaku imin Japanese contract plantation workers, arrived in Hawaii. Many stayed, but 289 died on Oahu without any descendants. They are known
as muen botoke or those who died without descendants and were buried at Makiki
Cemetery in the late 1880s.
With no one to tend the graves of the muen botoke, James Yonemura, then president of the United Japanese Society rallied support from the Japanese-American community to collect the remains in a common grave marked by a 12-foot mauve coloredgranite monument.
The monument, known as Yose-baka, was dedicated on Feb. 8, 1986. This day wasalso the 101st anniversary of the arrival of the first 944 kanyaku imin aboard the S.S.
City of Tokio.
There is another stone memorial at Makiki
Cemetery which was erected in 1971 to commemorate the death of 16 Japanesesailors who died here or on Imperial navy warships passing by the islands during
the Meiji Era.
The 16 Japanese Imperial Navy sailors at the cemetery died between 1860 and1890, while in the islands to support the arrival of the gannen mono. The Japanese
Consulate on Oahu arranged to have them buried at Makiki Cemetery, which began the Japanese section of the cemetery.
From 1905, the Japanese immigrants observed a special memorial day of theirown on the first Saturday of December at Aala Park, beginning with religious ceremonies followed by a parade to Makiki Cemetery to perform religious rituals at thegraves of the fallen soldiers. They walked back to Aala Park to continue with a dayof Kabuki, Sumo, entertainment and food, ending with a fireworks display.
Sailors of today's Japanese self-defense forces always visit the graves of theImperial Navy soldiers to pay respects during port calls in Honolulu. Since 1971,
the Japanese government has provided a $500 annual stipend to Hawaii Mejii Kai
to help maintain the site.