Hawaii Kotohira Jinsha
Hawaii Dazaifu Tenmangu
V O L UM EI V

J U N E

2 0 0 8Pet Blessing Festival ペット清祓い
A procession of dogs, cats,birds, rabbits and hamsters went
through the Chinowa ring on Sunday,
June 1 for the annual Pet Blessing atthe shrine.
Special prayers were also
given for deceased pets and pets whoare victims of inhumane treatment ofanimals.
Some pets hung around forsome “yappy hour” while others
slurped Pet Shave Ice. As usual,
all had a tail-wagging good time.
Mark your calendars forthe next Pet Blessing Festival onSunday, June 7, 2009.

Where ancient traditions thrive

MAHALO

Mahalo for your generous donations
Thomas & Linda Agawa
Spring Al-Bassam
Nicholas & Natsumi Chase
Charyl & Mark Cooper
Ricke Fujino
Toshiko Fujisaki
Doris Hirahara
Kyoko Isa
Sarah Spaid Ishida
Jessie Ito
Dennis Kawasaki
Sachiko Kele
Christy Kokami
Seiji & Tomoko Kumagawa
Stanford & Marian Kuroda
Maile Levins
Malimar, Inc.
Nicole Edwards Masuda
Sidney Matsufuru
Blossom Mau
Roy Morioka

Bernard Murata
Shinken & Marilyn Naitoh
Grace Nakama
Eileen Nakamura
Pat & Jeanette Nakata
Clyde & Gayle Nishimoto
Carol Nishiyama
Irene Okuda
Kenneth & Kumiko Saiki
Soledad Ohana
Rosalie Tagupa
Mikey Dog TochikiMichiyo Tsuru
Nadine Uratsuka
Lisa Yafuso
Edna Yaguchi
Sandra Yamamura
Faye Yamura
Fusae Yamasaki
Stanlyn Yoshizumi
Cynthia Yumol

Hawaii Kotohira Jinsha - Hawaii Dazaifu Tenmangu is a 501C3 nonprofit church.
All contributions are tax deductible to the fullest extent allowed by law.

hawaiipetmagazine
Marshall’s
Shell Service

GIVE 5 Campaign
May Volunteers
Arthur K Isa
Juston Isa
Arthur MY Isa Axel Obara

MAHALO Pet Blessing Festival Volunteers
Aipolani Apuna
Casey Chock
Mrs. Chock
Kyle Chun
Michelle Chun
Carl Estrada
Darlene Estrada
Debbie Estrada
Dion Estrada
Paul Fung
Melissa Hamada
Bob Harada

Ayame HigaFred Higa
Marina Higa
Risa Higa
Elisia Ho
Ryuji Hoshino
Emi Igarashi
Kai Igarashi
Pam Igarashi
Arthur MJY Isa
Kyoko Isa
Masao Kawamura

Brandon Lee
Wendy Lee
Jon Lower
Shinken Naitoh
Diane Nishida
Jill Nishida
Axel Obara
Natsu Okamura
Irene Takizawa
Naomi Teramoto
Richard Yoshinaga

Irezumi Tattoo
Recently throughout the Western World, there has been an increase in the popularity of body modifications. Itis common for young people to pierce their ears, nose, eyebrows etc. and to tattoo themselves, a practice often referred
to in Europe and the U.S. as neo-tribal or modern-primitive.
It is easy to see where these terms arose from in cultures with no indigenous history of tattooing and piercing.
The first tattoos arrived in the West on the arms of sailors from Polynesia. The word tattoo comes from the Tahitianword tatau which mimics the sound made by a little wooden hammer as it taps small needles under the skin.
Tattooing throughout the world has become very popular with a diminishing social stigma attached to the actof being tattooed. The culture has also become more globalized than previously and many designs these days are borrowed from all around the world. In the front window of a tattoo shop in the UK one might easily see a Japanese Koi
carp design next to a Celtic cross and a Hindu prayer.
This surge in interest in body modification, like punk culture and Western music before it, has also hit in Japan.
However, Japan has a long and varied history of tattooing and traditional irezumi (insertion of ink) or horimono(engraving) has deep associations with criminals and the yakuza (Japanese Mafia).
In Japan, tattooing is not considered to be a foreign, primitive habit, it has been a part of their culture since 500
BCE and although it has long been frowned upon and has suffered several periods of prohibition, a properly executedJapanese tattoo is beyond comparison in complexity and history.
The Ainu women of Northern Japan were tattooed at the time of their wedding with an upward twirled"moustache" and different abstract-geometrical designs on their arms and legs. The implication being that the arms andhands must work for the husband and the lips must speak for him. Ainu women believed that there was no salvation
after death without tattooed lips.
The Chinese and Japanese historically disapproved of tattooing, or any puncturing of the skin as it disrespected
their Confucian ideals of filial piety. One should not pierce the body given to you by your parents. To tattoo the precious gift of a human body was considered heinous act that set them apart from the community.
In a country like Japan where the group is very important, social ostracism was the worst form of punishment.
In the 1700s, criminals found guilty of an offense had their foreheads tattooed with the character inu (dog). In Southern
Kyushu a circle was tattooed near the left shoulder, in Kyoto a double bar was tattooed on the upper arm and in Nara adouble line encircled the biceps of the right arm.
Fire fighters of ancient Edo became one of the groups outside the yakuza to be closely associated with irezumi.
It is still common today for fire fighters and construction workers to be heavily tattooed along with the yakuza.
Another tattoo, which was very popular among Japanese fire fighters for its protective qualities was the Koi
carp. It is often portrayed swimming upstream on the river of someone's back and is considered to be one of the strongest symbols of bravery. A Chinese tale tells of a carp, which swam up a waterfall bravely to become a dragon at thetop. The watery connections are of obvious appeal to fire fighters.
Another popular category of tattoo is that of religious deities. Fudo, a Buddhist deity is a particularly popularcharacter. Fierce looking and surrounded by flames, he holds a sword to knock down his enemies and a rope with which
to bind them. He is obviously attractive to young men who fancy themselves as fierce warriors but he is a force forgood, a guardian of morals.
The most significant boom in irezumi happened in the period 1751-1800 during which time a Chinese bookcalled Shui-Hu-Chuan (In Japanese; Suikoden, in English; The Water Margin) became popular in the capital city ofEdo. It contained swash-buckling tales of an outlaw named Sung-Chiang and his 108 followers.
Many of the heroes themselves were tattooed. Shishin's back was covered with nine dragons, Rochishin wasdecorated with flowers and Busho was tattooed with a tiger.
It is interesting to note, however, that the recent surge of interest in body design in Japan does not seem to becontinuing the Japanese traditions. In a similar way to other cultural activities, like bonsai, calligraphy and tea ceremony, young Japanese are bored by the ritual and the time taken to perfect irezumi, and instead are buying into American culture and tattooing history. However, it seems that foreigners are fascinated by the ritual aspect and the uniquestyle of irezumi and are hurrying to receive it.
Rather than meticulously hand-pricked large, flowing, Japanese designs, young people in Japan, particularly
those involved in bosozoku (speed tribes) or other anti-establishment youth groups are opting to be tattooed with small
Western style designs such as Disney characters, skulls and crossbones, bleeding hearts or modernized versions of Japanese designs.
They call these decorations, "irezumi" or "tatu" using the Western word but never "horimono" which is a wordreserved for traditional hand-pricked designs by horishi (master tattooists). They also refer to these decorations as"wan-pointo" (one point) because instead of using the whole body as a canvas these small tattoos cover only one point

on the body.
Choosing a tattoo should be a thorough process. They are intended to be forever, and removal is expensive. The
more planning that goes into your design of choice, the more likely that you will enjoy your tattoo later in life. If you’replanning on an Asian character tattoo, be sure to find a bi-lingual, bi-cultural person that you trust to review your design
before it’s tattooed permanently.
Below are some rather strange Japanese kanji character tattoos. Many are literal translations which do not makesense in Japanese. Remember - think before you INK !!!
Reference: Helena Burton

Koi itai - literally, love hurts.
Sounds a bit strange in Japanese.
Lost in translation, perhaps?

White arm?

Huh? This looks
Japanese, but isjust gibberish

Cat, Mother, Father,love ?

Imoto-san oryounger sister?

SHRINE CALENDAR

神社スケジュール
June

Clean-up & Preparation 掃除と準備

15Dazaifu Tenmangu Sukei Kai Festival
太宰府天満宮崇敬会大祭

七月

6

Tsukinami-sai Monthly Service 月次祭

5Clean up 掃除

11 Preparations 準備
12

Yukiko, a girl’s namewith the wrong Kanjicharacter for ”ko”

“Forever family honor “ - too bad it’s upside down. Wonder if “family” refers tobiological family or to gang “family”

Broken,defeated ?

Kazoku or family. Nice brushstrokes, but the kanji stencil
was placed backwards,
making it unreadable

Honolulu Shinto Renmei
Memorial Day Service

六月

14JulyBaka gaijin - (stupid foreigner )Oh my !

Chinowa - Ring of Renewal 茅の輪くぐり

Priests and membersof the Honolulu Shinto
Renmeiattended the annual
Memorial Day
service at Punchbowl
National Cemetery ofthe Pacific, Makiki
Cemetery and Moilili
Cemetery.

Small Miracles
Birds’ nests are temporary structures, often abandoned once the young have left.
It would be easy enough to pass it by, however, if we pause to look closely, it becomes
more intriguing.
We may never know what kind of bird built the nest, because there are several
species that nest at the shrine. But it inspires a sense of wonder beyond mere questions
about identification.
Somehow a small bird knew how to gather the materials for this structure. Somehow this bird arranged strips of the tassel from the shrine’s bell, weaving them together
with such precision that the nest is still sturdy and secure after being exposed to the dailyrain and wind.
Most birds are opportunistic when it
comes to building materials, and will readily
incorporate manmade items into their nests ifthey fit basic requirements of size and texture.
In many cases, though, the materials
chosen must have specific properties. Studies
Shrine’s bell tassel stripped by thehave found that birds were selecting certain
plants, such as wild carrot and yarrow, containing chemicals that would inhibit the growth of mites and other parasites.
The great crested flycatcher often adds a piece of shed snakeskin, tohelp deter predators or other intruders.
Considered in the proper light, this little bundle of dried hemp fromthe tassel is really a small miracle and the sheer ingenuity of these miniature
marvels of architecture.
Nest made by birds with the shrine’s bell tassel

Hawaii Kotohira Jinsha
Hawaii Dazaifu Tenmangu
1239 Olomea Street
Honolulu, HI 96817-3343