VOLUME III February 2006

a place where ancient traditions thrive

Hawaii Kotohira Jinsha
Hawaii Dazaifu Tenmangu
Members unanimously voted in the new slate of Directors and Officers at the General
Membership Meeting of February 12, 2006.
The board serves a vital function by making sure that the shrine is in compliance with the law,
managing the shrine’s financial resources, and providing policy direction and implementing a clear
vision for the overall mission of the shrine.
Through the leadership of Dr. Shinken Naitoh, President and Chair of the Board and with thekokua of the many devoted directors, a highly functional board has developed a strong and informed
leadership to preserve the spiritual, cultural and historic values of the shrine.
Mahalo Directors and Officers for your selfless devotion, talents and time in preserving andperpetuating the traditions of our Issei forefathers and for seeking ways to better share our traditions
with the communities we serve.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS 理事
Bob Harada

Nobuo Hayashi

Pam Igarashi

Kyoko Isa

Bert Kaizuka

Sachiko Kele

Audrey Miyamoto

Marilyn Naitoh

Shinken Naitoh

Hatsuko Nakazato

Axel Obara

Kumiko Sakai

Richard Sakai

Miyono Shimoda

Robert Shimoda

Irene Takizawa

Reverend Masa Takizawa

COMMITTEE CHAIRS 委員会会長
Executive Committee 運営
Shinken Naitoh

OFFICERS 役員

Preservation 保存
Bob Harada

President Emeritus 名誉理事長 Robert Shimoda

Member Connections 交流
Kyoko Isa
Sachiko Kele

President 理事長

Shinken Naitoh

Vice President ・ Treasurer

Bob Harada

副理事長・ 会計
Secretary

書記

Irene Takizawa

Audit

監査
Marilyn Naitoh

Richard Sakai

Hatsuko Nakazato

Culture & Programs 文化
Axel Obara
Kumiko Sakai
Communications コミュニケーション
Irene Takizawa

MAHALO SUPPORTERS for your generous donations
Yuuki Barunzo
Joel Bennerman
Bob Harada
Chiaki Hayashi
Nobuo & Mary Hayashi
Ryuji Hoshino
Kyoko IsaJapan Air LinesAzusa Kanai
Tomoko Kawamoto
Sachiko Kele
Elaine Komatsu

Seiji & Tomoko Kumagawa
Yasuo & Joyce Mito
Roy Morioka
Mami Nagai
Shinken & Marilyn NaitohZenji & Keiko Nakai
Evelyn Nakamura
Gary & Marlo Nakata
Pat & Jeanette Nakata
Masateru & Hatsuko Nakazato
Nakazato Fish Market
Axel Obara

Kotomi Okamura
Lois Okino
Richard & Kumiko Sakai
Masanori Shimazu
Robert & Miyono Shimoda
Noriko Sogawa
Yukiko Sugino
Hikari Takahashi
Kurt & Shoko Tolzmann
Zachary Yamasaki
Hiroyuki & Keiko Yoshida
Cynthia Yumol

Hawaii Kotohira Jinsha－Hawaii Dazaifu Tenmangu is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit church. Contributions are tax deductible to the fullest extend allowed by law.

We would like to express our deepest
sympathy to the families of the late

Hanako Nakata
Betty Santiago

SHRINE SCHEDULE
March
5 Tsukinami-sai Monthly Service 月次祭
April
9 Tsukinami-sai Monthly Service 月次祭
29 Clean-up & Mochi Pounding 掃除と餅つき
30 Spring Thanksgiving Festival 春季感謝大祭

Congratulations! James Toshiichi Kunichika
The Honpa Hongwanji Missin of Hawaii honored James Kunichika as aLiving Treasure of Hawaii on February 3, 2006 at the Sheraton Waikiki Hotel for his
many decades of contributions and lifelong efforts to the preservation and perpetuationof the Japanese culture.
James Toshiichi Kunichika was born on January 1, 1915 in Koolau, Kauai as
the eldest of seven children. He started working from an early age to help support hisfamily. His mother was from Iwakuni, Yamaguchi-ken so he learned Iwakuni Ondo
as a child, by listening to it on the family’s hand-cranked record player. He was performing and perfecting his style of singing by the time he was 18.
James Kunichika’s Iwakuni Ondo has earned accolades for cultural excellenceand has been recorded and archived at the Smithsonian Institute, The Library ofCongress, Bishop Museum and the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts. He is also recipient of numerous awards in Hawaii andabroad.
James is founder of the James Kunichika Painting Co. and is also been a long time member and devoted
volunteer of the shrine. For decades, James has selflessly contributed his talents, time and energy in the preservation of the shrine, serving as a positive example of stewardship for future generations.
During O-bon season, you can still hear his 91-year young voice singing of life, of loss, of honor andduty. His songs memorialize times past, brave men, and dedicated women. You feel the sorrow and the joy conveyed in his singing. His chanting over the drum beats makes irresistible desire to get up and dance and join in
the O-bon celebration.

左儀長 Sagicho - burning of the old omamori and ofuda
平安時代の宮中では、清涼殿の東庭で青竹を束ねて立て毬杖（ぎちょう）三個を結びその上に扇子や短冊を添え陰陽師が謡いはやしながらこれを焼く「左義長」という行事がありました。今日では正月15日前後に行われ民間行事として正月の松飾りや古札を集めて焼く火祭りの行事です。
ほぼ全国的にみられますが地方によってどんど焼、さいと焼、三九郎焼、おんべ焼、ほっけんぎょうなどの名称で行われています。
神社では旧年お守りいただいたお札に感謝して、焼納が行われますがこの火にあたると若返るとか、餅を焼いて食べると病気をしないとか書初をかざしてそれが高く舞い上がると書が上手になるなどともいわれています。
Sagicho, also known as Dondo-yaki, Ombe-yaki, Saito-yaki,
Sankuro-yaki , Hochoji, Hokkengyo is an ancient ceremony toexpress appreciation to andpurify by burning, old ofuda,
omamori and Shogatsu decorations. Sagicho was held at the shrine on Sunday, January 22
from 2:00 pm.
Mahalo to volunteers for their kokua in preparing the oldomamori and ofuda for burning by removing plastic, metal andother non-burnable items to prevent toxic fumes from harming theenvironment.
Please bring all old ofuda and omamori to the shrine on or
before your first visit of the new year. All items deposited into
the Kosatsu box after Sagicho will be stored and burned thefollowing year. Sagicho for 2007 will be performed onJanuary 21, 2007 from 200 pm.

Coming soon

CHINOWA

Saturday July 1, 2006
4:00 pm

Ring of Renewal

茅の輪くぐりChinowa
The Ring of Renewal

TAIRYO-KI (TAIRYO-BATA) Fishing Flags
カラフルな色味が目に飛び込んでくる大漁旗。元々は漁船が港まで帰る時、大漁を知らせる為に掲げるものでした。無線のない時代に魚の荷揚げを効率よく行う為のサインで、旗を見た陸地の人々は箱や塩を用意して、船が着くのを待っていたのです。
大漁旗の始まりは江戸時代で、当時はただ、むしろを掲げるだけでしたが、いつしか船の名前や屋号などを染め抜いた旗が使われるようになったそうです。
ただ、今の様にカラフルな大漁旗が使われる様になったのはずっと後の事で、昭和・戦後になってからです。千葉県の銚子港の網元が、大漁の時に船子に配る晴着から、ああいう形になったという説があります。いずれにせよ、青い海に白い波線を描きながら大漁旗をなびかせて走る船の姿は、１つの映像として、色彩が鮮やかでとても美しく見えます。

No place in Japan is more than 70 miles from the sea. As a result, fresh fish is an important part of theJapanese diet, and fishing itself has provided a reliable livelihood that is as old as human habitation in the Japanese archipelago.
Tairyo-ki or Tairyo-bata are filled with rich visual and symbolic images of the Japanese fishing culture
and is flown from fishing vessels for celebratory purposes and to publicize the “big catch” on their journey
home. Tairyo-ki or Tairyo-bata is said to have begun in the 17th century as a simple piece of goza flown as asign of a big catch. It wasn’t until the early 1900s that elaborate designs and names and logos of boats weredyed onto a flag as seen today. At the turn of the century, many Issei fishermen in Hawaii flew tairyo-batadyed with the mon and name of Kotohira-gu in hopes for a big catch and safety at sea.
The large scale entry of the Issei into the local fishery appears to have been triggered by events in
1911 when the price of albacore rose to $14 a ton as the direct result of Japanese in Hawaii and on the mainland who had been engaged in other occupations switching to fishing. Also involved in this occupationalswitch was the increasing legal pressure being exerted by white farmers and politicians who were intent on
denying the ownership or even use of agricultural land to the Issei.
With the adoption of California's Alien Land Law in 1913 many more mainland and Hawaii Issei
moved into fishery, introducing Japanese fishing techniques such as long line fishing, changing forever fishingmethods in the U.S.
During the 1930s, the Japanese Issei represented an important component of the local fishing fleet. It
was also a decade that saw an increasing amount of their time and effort directed toward fighting off discriminatory fishing legislation.

Words to live by - Bachi ga ataru, Mottai nai, Arigatai……..
日本人は日古来より三つの言葉を唱えてきました。それは「ばちがあたる」「もったいない」「ありがたい」の言葉です。
「ばちがあたる」というのは、目に見えない力に対して畏れの念を持つ謙虚な心で道教の流れをくむ 神道の教えです。
「もったいない」とは惜しいとか恐れ多いという意味で、神聖な物や重要な物を粗末にするという意味です。
「ありがたい」はまさに神道そのものです。ありがとうは漢字で書くと「有難う」となります。 もともとは「有る事が難しい」から来ていると考えられます。 有る事が難しいとは実際に親切にされたりす ることがめったに無いものと考えられます。「その様な奇跡が起こるのは、神仏の力によるものでは無いか？」と思い、感謝の気持ちで『ありがたい、ありがたい』と拝んだ訳です。今の様に一般的に使われるようになったのは江戸時代になってからのことです。
「ばちがあたる」「もったいない」「ありがたい」、この三つの言葉は、祖先が語り継いで私たちに残したすばらしい言葉だと思います。これほど分かりやすく、 日々の生活のなかで素直な心で「ばちがあたる」「もったいない」「ありがたい」と呪文のように唱えることによって、身も心も、そして暮らしにも調和が取れてくること間違いありません。
Since ancient times, the Japanese have repeatedly used three phrases of Shinto origin in their daily lives bachi ga ataru, mottai nai and arigatai.
I’m sure many of you have heard the term bachi ga ataru somewhere, sometime in your lives. Bachi is avariant form of batsu or Shinbatsu which means divine retribution inflicted on someone who speaks or acts in adisrespectful or unbelieving way towards a kami. In English, a similar phrase would be “what goes around,comes around.” Here in Hawaii, “you’re going to get bachi” seems to sum it all when you’ve done something
you shouldn’t have.
A rough English equivalent of mottai nai would be “what a waste” . Literally, it means “I am unworthy
to be a recipient of these goods or services” and is a phrase which evolved from the Shinto concept ofexpressing gratitude for the bounties that we receive from nature and the need for reflection on the forces thatsustain us.
For example, if a child doesn’t care for the lunch prepared by his or her mother and throws it away atschool, this would be a classic example of mottai- nai. The child has no regard for the love and efforts of his or
her mother and the many hands that were involved in planting and harvesting the food used in preparation. He or
she is literally, unworthy to be a recipient of the lunch.
Arigatai is a form of arigato which literally means “something which is difficult.” The term began as aphrase to express how rare it was for one to encounter a kind act, which eventually evolved into the phrase
arigato for thank you. Arigatai or expressing gratitude to our ancestors, parents, nature, etc. is the foundation ofShinto.

Setsubun — The coming of Spring
Setsubun has long been associated with the rites of purification
deemed essential in preparation of the new year. The Setsubun ritual involves
the expelling of evil spirits by tossing roasted soybeans out of the home while saying “fuku wa uchi, oni wa soto” or fortune in and demons out. Soybeans are also
thrown in the house for family members to pick up and eat a number equivalent
to their age to ensure health and luck.
Mame-maki or bean- throwing is linked to the observance of Tsuina, a Chinese ritual for driving off evils. Tsuina was incorporated into the cycle of annual events observed by theJapanese imperial court during the 9th century and evolved into Setsubun from the Muromachi Period(1333-1568).

The Chrysanthemum Throne
For centuries, men have ascended to Japan's imperial throne, one of theworld's oldest hereditary monarchies. Japan has had eight reigning empresses
among the 125 rulers in the imperial family genealogy, but historians generally
see them as temporary solutions. Children of empresses were not permitted tofollow them on the throne. Instead, heirs were selected from the next-closest
male relatives. Female succession was altogether prohibited in 1889, allowing
only males descended through the paternal line to become emperor.
Faced with the harsh reality that neither of the current emperor's twosons is likely to produce a male heir, Prime Minister Koizumi pledged to present
a bill to parliament to revise the U.S.- imposed Imperial Household Law of 1947
that prohibits a female line to hold the throne.
Critics of the proposed bill argue that changing that male-only right tosuccession could forever taint the imperial bloodline, particularly in the modern
Toshi-no-Miya Aikoera of globalization.
The possibility has ignited a furious debate over the most delicate ofsubjects -- the imperial system and its significance to Japan -- and over topics as varied as the status of Japanese women, the merits of the concubine system and the purity of the imperial Y chromosome.
Princess Masako and her husband, Crown Prince Naruhito, have a four-year-old daughter, Aiko.
Surveys indicate that more than 70 percent of the public say they would be happy if Masako's daughter were to
take over the monarchy since she is the first and only child of the crown prince.
However, the Imperial Household Agency stunned the nation this month by confirming rumors that
Princess Kiko, wife of Emperor Akihito's second son, Prince Akishino, is pregnant -- reportedly by about sixweeks. The mere possibility of a long-awaited male heir is a fairy tale come true for conservatives who bitterly
oppose female succession and Prime Minister Koizumi a face-saving way out of a potential political battle. If
the baby is a boy, he will be the first male born into Japan's royal family since Prince Akishino in 1965.

Dog Tales in the Year of the Dog
CHUKEN HACHIKO, the Loyal Dog of Shibuya
Loyalty, faithfulness and unconditional love are qualities that have earned
dogs the title of "man's best friend". One particular Akita dog took these qualities toan extreme, earning a place in the hearts of the Japanese people for over sixty years.
Amid towering department stores, a life size bronze statue of a dog can befound in front of Tokyo's Shibuya Train Station.
Chuken Hachiko or “the faithful dog Hachiko” was born in Akita in 1923
and was brought to Tokyo in 1924. He and his owner, Eisaburo Ueno, were inseparable. Each day "Hachi" would accompany Eisaburo, a professor at the Imperial
University, to the train station when he left for work. Upon returning, the professor
would find the dog patiently waiting. This happy routine continued until one fateful day in 1925, when Eisaburo
became ill on the job and died before he could return home.
Hachiko was less than two years old at the time, but the bond between dog and owner was strong.
Hachiko continued to wait each day at Shibuya station for Eisaburo who was never coming back. At times,
he wouldn't return home for days, becoming a familiar sight to commuters as he kept his vigil for over ten years.
On March 8, 1935, Hachiko died on the very same spot he last saw Eisaburo alive.
The people who passed the loyal dog each day were so touched by his story that they erected a statue inhis honor in 1934. Though Hachiko stood only two feet tall and weighed 92 pounds, the message he left on theimportance of good friends is enormous. The story behind the statue is one that has endured and continually
warms the hearts of locals and tourists alike.