Hawaii Kotohira Jinsha
Hawaii Dazaifu Tenmangu
A baby's first step is...into yourheart!? Congratulations on thebirth of Madden - the newest
addition to this local ohana.

Sekihan red bean rice wasprepared for the auspicious day, acustom which is still observed
today.

It is documented that during the9th century, the birth of a child
was celebrated among thearistocracy with food, drink anddance.

During the 12th century, newborns
were taken to local shrines to beaccepted as a new member of theUjiko shrine community.
It was thought that the expectant

JULY 2021

mother was under the protectionof the Ubusuna-gami or local kami
and the shrine visit was to formally
express gratitude to the kami for asafe delivery.
It wasn't until the Muromachi
period (1336-1573) that special
gokito blessings were performedfor newborns.

DONATIONSCALENDAR

Joslyne Caspillo
Preston Chibana
Bill & Keiko Doughty
Kelsey & Miyuki Fukumae
Bryson Goda
Patrick Harrington
Rodney & Sharon Isa
David & Masako Jimenez
James & Melba Kurashige
Steve Miwa
Masaki Murashita
Shinken & Marilyn Naitoh
Craig & Diane Nishida
Glenn & Esther Nishio
Judi Sakamoto
Akiko Sanai
Gary & Linda Shinsato
Robert Stallings
Takeshi & Gemma Uemura
Junko Yonemura

AUGUST
110 am - 2 pm (CANCELED)
Back-To-School Blessing

8

2:00 pm (INTERNAL)
Tsukinami-sai Monthly Service

SEPTEM BER
1

8:30 am - 4:00 pm (OPEN TO THE PUBLIC)
Accepting reservations for Shichigosan,Totose no Oiwai, Jusan Mairi, Seijin Shiki(For more info: w w w.jin ja.u s. Reservation
info will be uploaded on 8/20/2021)

4

1:00 pm - 3:00 pm (INTERNAL)
Clean up and Preparations

5

3:00 pm (INTERNAL)
Autumn Thanksgiving Festival

If you usually discard your cans and plastic bottles with yourregular trash, please help the shrine protect the environmentand get cash back at the same time.
Please bring your clean cans and plastic bottles without caps
to the shrine and leave it in the small hut beside the shrine.
Please be sure that the cans and plastic bottles are part of
the HI-5 Beverage Container Program by looking for the HI-5
mark on the can or bottle.
It will be taken to CM Recycling - a certified Redemption Centerand the proceeds will be earmarked for the shrine's
Maintenance Projects.

GOKITO - Private Blessings
The WHO (World HealthOrganization) urges fully
vaccinated people to continue
to wear masks and practicesocial distancing and othersafety measures as the Delta
variant is highly contagious.
Until further notice, Private

Good wishes to you and your ohana on the birthof your little prince!

A Car Blessing was performed for shrine friends on
July 21.
Blessing cars and other modes of transportation
including ocean vessels and airplanes has a long
tradition in Shinto - a practice that is still alive andpopular in this modern age.
In ancient times, priests blessed horses, carriages,
boats - especially those that embarked on perilous
land and ocean journeys.
Car Blessings gives drivers peace of mind and is oneof the more popular blessings at the shrine.

Gokito blessings will continue
to be by reservations only witha maximum participation of
10 people.

So many wonder filled times ahead for you......
Congratulations!!!

for your next trip to return homesafe and sound.
Dazaifu Tenmangu in Fukuoka
has over 6,000 plum trees of 167
varieties. One tree, known asTobiume stands to the right of themain shrine and is the first tobloom each year.

A Gokito blessing for safe travels
was performed for a visitor from
the Mainland on July 15.
Here in Hawaii, off-island travel
requires airplane or oceanvessels. Our Travel Safety Gokito
blessings and Air Travel omamori
will provide that extra insurance

For the past 7, 8 years, theshrine has seen a rise in Anime
enthusiasts and Otaku visiting
the shrine - especially for
Hasumode.
Anime is hand-drawn orcomputer generated animation
originating from Japan.
Otaku is someone that has a
consuming interest in Anime,
Manga comics and Japanese Popculture, to the detriment of theirsocial skills.
Through the efforts of Kell
Komatsubara, the shrine hosted

Michizane Sugawara, a renown
scholar and bureaucrat wasslandered by Fujiwara noTokihira who served as a minister
for Emperor Daigo. As a result,Michizane was demoted andexiled to Dazaifu, Fukuoka.
In Dazaifu, he yearned so muchfor his favorite tree Tobi- umethat it uprooted itself and flew

the Anime & Otaku Matsuri in2014, 2015 and 2016.
Due to the growing interest andoverwhelming number ofparticipants, the Anime & Otaku
Matsuri merged with another
Anime event and moved to theHawaii Convention Center in2017.
On July 15, a familiar Anime fan
dressed as Nanadaime Hikage
Hiruzen Sarutobi from the Naruto
series visited the shrine to do a
photo shoot.

from Kyoto to Dazaifu.
After Michizane's death in 903,
Kyoto was plagued with floods,
epidemics and droughts.
Sons of Emperor Daigo died insuccession, which drove
aristocrats to build the Kitano
Tenmangu shrine to appease
Michizane's angry spirit andposthumously restore his title.
Michizane was deified as Tenjin
and Dazaifu Tenmangu wasrevered as the shrine of arts,
education and travel safety.
In recent years, it has also
become the patron kami forthose in the airlines, travel andaerospace industries.

SomenSomen is widely eaten in
Japan during the hotsummer months.
Somen is a very thin noodle
less than 1.3 mm indiameter and made ofwheat flour. In Japan, it isusually eaten with a cold
shoyu-based dipping sauce.
Somen is known as So
Myeon in Korea and Su Mianin China.
It is documented that Somen
originated in China as adelicacy called suo bing (?
? ) or Sakubei in Japanese.
It was imported to Naraprefecture sometime during
the 8th century.
Sakubei - the somen of the
8th century was like theChinese breakfast donuts
You Tiau eaten with juk rice
porridge or warm soy milk.
It was made of wheat andrice flour that was shaped
into long sticks and deepfried.
The ancient somen orSakubei was often used asofferings to the kami.
During the Heian Period(794 - 1185), Sakubei wasthought to ward off malaria
and eaten during theTanabata festivities insummer.

BOBURAIt wasn't until theMuromachi Period (1338 1573) that Sakubei became
the modern day somen - athin, wheat noodle
stretched with oil and dried
under the sun.

Pumpkins are often referred to as
Boh-bura in the Kumamoto, Hiroshima
and Yamaguchi prefectural dialects.

By the Edo Period (1603 1868), Somen was eaten
widely as a summer treat.

Bobura actually comes from thePortugese word for pumpkin Abohbura.

There is another somen-likenoodle called Hiya-mugi.

Pumpkins are not native to Japan andwere imported to Japan by Portuguesevessels from Cambodia via Chinaaround the 16th century.

The ingredients are exactly
the same as somen,
however the noodles are 1.7
mm in diameter incomparison to somen, whichis around 1.3 mm indiameter.
Somen can also be prepared
as a warm noodle soupcalled Nyu-men.

M ean in g: Japanese national?
Or igin : Bobura or Bobora is a local
slang for a Japanese national.

In standard Japanese, the word forpumpkin is Kabocha. It is said that theJapanese pronunciation of Cambodia Kanboja eventually morphed into theword Kabocha.

Doyo-no-Ushi-no Hi or the day
dedicated to eating Unagi eel this year
is on Ju ly 28.
This tradition began during the late1700's in Edo (Tokyo) . Unagi eels were
thought to bring relief and stamina
from the summer 's oppressive ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
heat and humidity.

TANABATA - Star Festival
From ancient times, theJapanese have embraced theawes of nature by celebrating
the changing of the seasons.

wove cloths for the kami
3) Chinese legend of theCowherd and Princess - twolovers who cross the the Milky
Way to meet once a year.
As in most Japanese festivals,
all 5 Sekku involves sake.
On Jinjitsu (1/7), special herbs
to boost the immune system
are mixed into sake.
On Joshi (3/3) peach leaves aremixed with sake for physicaland emotional balance.

Among them are 5 major
festivals called Sekku or GoSekku. They are Jinjitsu January
7, Joshi - March 3, Tango - May
5, Tanabata - July 7 and Choyo September 9.
The modern day Tanabata isactually a combination ofseveral festivals:
1) Chinese tradition called Qixi
where young people wishedfor skills in sewing, craftsmanship and penmanship
2) Ancient ritual of Tanabatatsume where shrine maidens

On Tango (5/5), chopped Irisleaves are mixed into sake toeliminate toxins and tostrengthen the body.

On Tanabata 7/7, Amazake (asweet non-alcoholic sake) isserved to relieve fatigue.
On Choyo (9/9), kiku petals aremixed in sake for good healthand longevity.
Tanabata was observed at theshrine from July 1 - 7. Tanzaku
tags were available to visitors
to write their wishes for theannual celebration.

M AHALOTan zak u t ags
Diane Nishida
Sak eBryson Goda
Craig & Diane Nishida
Gary & Linda Shinsato

MAINTENANCE

A dead fighting cock was found on shrine
grounds, near the Olomea Street fence on
July 1.
The bird had a black wire around its neck andwas found hanging inside the shrine fence.
A dead fighting cock was found a few months
ago on the H-1 fence - across the shrine, alsowith a cord around its neck.
Cock fighting is a blood-sport that has beenaround for hundreds of years and isseemingly still a mainstream illegal activity inour islands.
According to HPD, the birds who do not makethe cut are simply killed and those who are
deemed good enough to fight endure apainful and cruel death in the ring.

This summer is forecast to behotter than average over muchof the US.
High humidity and heatencourages weed growth and an
astounding amount of weeds
have emerged outside the Kama
Lane gate and in the shrinegrounds.

Every last scrap of the roots,rhizomes and stolons wereremoved, attempting to achievea weed-free outcome withlimited regrowth.