Where ancient traditions thrive

Hawaii Kotohira Jinsha
Hawaii Dazaifu Tenmangu
Volume 5, Issue 2

Spring is the most glorious
time of the year when the landscapetransforms into an explosion of vibrantcolor. Spring symbolizes birth,renewal, of life, regeneration.
The shrine celebrated the annual
Spring Thanksgiving Festival on
Sunday, April 19 from 3:00 pm.
Officiating the ceremony wasRev. Masa Takizawa, assisted by Rev.
Naoya Shimura of Hawaii Ishizuchi
Jinja and Rev. Akihiro Okada of Daijingu Temple of Hawaii and Ryuji Hoshino.
A miko mai was performed byNatsumi Ikeda.
Rev. Nobuhiko Baba and Rev.
Shigeyukji Ariyoshi flew in from ourSpring Thanksgiving Festival
main shrine, Dazaifu Tenmangu, Fukuoka to join in the festivities.
President Shinken Naitoh
greeted members and guests and extend the shrine’s deepest gratitude to
the many people who came together
to make the festival a success.
A big mahalo also goes out tothe students of the Hanayagi Dancing
Academy and Hanayagi Mitsuemi
sensei for coordinating their performance and Honolulu Fukuoka Kenjinkai and its president Dr. Bertrand
Kobayashi for their support.

4月19日（日）当宮では福岡の本宮より馬場宣彦禰宜と有吉重行権禰宜をお迎えしての春季感謝大祭が執り行われました。
夜半からの雨も止み境内の緑も一層輝きを増した中、祭典が厳かに斎行されました。
直会では花柳ダンシング・アカデミーの日舞、坂井久美子さんの詩吟、ベッシー田神さんのカラオケやマジシャン・モトさんのマジック・ショーで賑わった。

MAHALO for your generous donations
Thomas & Linda Agawa
Daryl Cachola
Titus Chan
Daijingu Temple of Hawaii
Dazaifu Tenmangu, Fukuoka
Ryan & Michi Fitzgerald
Clark & Gayle Fujihara
Toshiko Fujisaki
Junko Hajime
Hanayagi Dancing AcademyHawaii Foundation
Bob HaradaRyuji Hoshino
Hawaii Ishizuchi Jinja
Mitsuru & Pam Igarashi
Kyoko Isa
Robert & Jean Ishihara
Max Iwazaki
Izumo Taishakyo Mission
Bert Kaizuka
Yumi Kaneko
Marie Kawamoto
Masao Kawamura
Sachiko KeleJohn & Toyoko Kluvo
Dr. Bertrand Kobayashi
Elaine Komatsu
Ernest & Chiyoko Lau
Carol LeeGary Lee, Jr.
Richard & Eleanor Matsunaga

Mahalo to Axel Obara for
donating his talents and time
to construct cabinets for theshrine meeting room andShinsenjo.

Roy Morioka
Kara Muramoto
Ellen Nagatori
Gary & Marlo Nakata
Pat & Jeanette Nakata
Shinken & Marilyn Naitoh
Gary & Marlo Nakata
Pat & Jeanette Nakata
Masateru & Hatsuko Nakazato
Nakazato Fish MarketCraig & Diane NishidaDiane Ogasawara
Mitsunobu ＆Mihoko Ohashi
Kimberly Padua
Rogue City Productions
Kenneth & Kumiko Saiki
Kumiko Sakai
Jay & Pauline Sakashita
Nobuo & Aileen Sato
Miyono Shimoda
Tetsuya Shimomura
Alice Sugimoto
Chester Sugimoto
Sugimoto Ohana
The Honolulu Times
Mayumi Togashi
James & Roberta Uesugi
Yasuko Uyehara
Eiko Wong
Richard Yasukochi

Mahalo to Mike Lee (husbandof the late Hanayagi MitsuakiII) for donating his talents andtime to construct storage for theshrine meeting room.

Hawaii Kotohira Jinsha - Hawaii Dazaifu Tenmangu is a 501(C )(3) nonprofit church.
All contributions are tax deductible to the fullest extent allowed by law.

MAHALO Give 5 Campaign
February MarchApril

Ryuji Hoshino • Arthur Isa • Arthur MJY Isa

MAHALO Festival Volunteers
Rev. Shigeyuki Ariyoshi
Travis Asato
Rev. Nobuhiko Baba
Hanayagi Dancing Academy
Hawaii Foundation
Bob Harada
Ryuji Hoshino
Arashi Igarashi
Kai Igarashi
Pam Igarashi
Natsumi Ikeda
Arthur Isa
Arthur Isa, Jr.

Kyoko IsaYumi Kaneko
Shalene Kerfoot
Marilyn Naitoh
Shinken Naitoh
Nakazato Fish Market
Axel Obara
Mitsunobu Ohashi
Rev. Akihiro Okada
Rev. Naoya Shimura
Daniel Song
Naomi Teramoto
Eiko Wong

Rev. Takizawa performing a car blessing on Chester
Sugimoto’s new vehicle

2009 Shrine CalendarJune
７ Pet Blessing Festival and Chinowa Ringof Renewal ペット清祓いと茅の輪くぐり
July
5 Tsukinamisai Monthly Service 月次際
August1

Clean-up＆Prep 掃除と準備

Spring Thanksgiving Festival
お祭りあれこれKanetsugu Naoe (Tenchijin)
The shrine received an Emailinquiring as to why the character 愛“ai” or love was used by Kanetsugu
Naoe on his kabuto helmet in the TV
drama Tenchijin.
Kanetsugu Naoe was born
Yoroku Higuchi in 1560, the son ofHiguchi Kanetoyo, a low ranking
samurai of the Uesugi clan.
Kanetsugu’s father Kanetoyo
Higuchi was the vassal of Masakage
Nagao, lord of Sakato Castle andbrother in law of Kenshin Uesugi.
Masakage Nagao was also the fatherof Kagekatsu Uesugi, who was later
adopted by Kenshin Uesugi.
Extremely intelligent frombirth, Kanetsugu quickly became ahigh ranking vassal to two generations of Uesugi lords - Kenshin andKagekatsu.
In the civil war that wasfought between Uesugi vassals following Kenshin's death (Otate noRan battle), Naoe Kanetsugu supported Uesugi Kagekatsu.
In 1579, Kagekatsu emerged
as the victor of the Otate no Ran.
Kanetsugu’s support and loyalty to Kagekatsu Uesugi in this war,
would forever change his fate.
Upon the death of Naoe Nobutsuna, lord of Yoita Castle,
Kagekatsu Uesugi ordered Nobutsuna's widow to marry Kanetsugu.

Kanetsugu (who at the time hadchanged his name from Yoroku Higuchi to Kagetsugu Higuchi)
became Naoe Kanetsugu and theinheritor of Naoe Nobutsuna's domain.
Kanetsugu’s wife Osen wasthree years older then him and astaunch and loyal supporter of theUesugi clan.
Kanetsugu is said to have loved
her deeply and refused to take concubines, a practice which was expectedof high ranking samurai at the time.
During and after the Otate noRan battle, Nobunaga Oda converged
upon Uesugi Kagekatsu's territories
and nearly wiped the Uesugi clan offthe map.
Tokugawa Ieyasu, who fearedthat the Uesugi might go to war withhim, demanded that Kagekatsu stop
increasing the size of his army.
Eventually, the Uesugi clanarranged an alliance with Ishida Mitsunari, one of Toyotomi Hideyoshi's
former administrators, against the Tokugawa.
In the events that led up to theBattle of Sekigahara, Naoe Kanetsugu
moved swiftly in an attempt to jeopardize Tokugawa Ieyasu's holdings inJapan's Kanto Province.
After a brisk siege, he managed
to take Hataya Castle. However, twodaimyo lords of the North, DateMasamune and Mogami Yoshiaki,successfully countered Naoe Kanetsugu and defeated him in theBattle of Hasedo.
After the decisive Battle ofSekigahara in 1601, which resulted
in victory for the Eastern army, theUesugi clan was transferred toYonezawa where Kanetsugu
received a fief worth 60,000 koku
and eventually retired.
Kanetsugu was well known
for wearing a helmet affixed with thekanji 愛 “Ai” which means love.
The character “Ai” in this casedoes not mean “love” but is takenfrom the deity of war, Atago Gongen.
There are also other theories
that suggest the character “ai” represents Aizen Myo-o, the deity whotransforms wordly lust to into spiritual awakening.
Though Kanetsugu is not as
famous as many other samurai fromthis time, he still played an importantrole in supporting Ishida Mitsunari
during the Sekigahara campaign.
Today a statue of him can befound in front of the Yoita History
and Folk Museum in Niigata Prefecture.
Kanetsugu was also well readand left many poems and haiku.
Kanetsugu died in Edo in1619 at the age of 60. It is documented in the Uesugi clan annals thatmany samurai and peasants mournedhis passing.

Pet Blessing Festival & Chinowa Ring of Renewal
This year we will be combining two summer events - Pet Blessing Festivaland Chinowa (Ring of Renewal) and performing them on Sunday, June 7 from9:00 am to 3:00 pm.
The format will be the same in years past, except, there will now be one large
ring to accommodate both humans and pets at the annual summer blessing.
Chinowa Kuguri is Japan's oldest religious tradition. For centuries, the Japanese have observed Chinowa Kuguri by stepping through a chinowa, a large ring
made of reeds to rejuvenate the vital force that heals and energize the physical,
emotional and spiritual life force for the second half of the year.
The ancient chinowa ritual at the shrine is the only one to be conducted
outside of Japan.
As usual, the Chinowa ring will be specially crafted with ti
leaves for its cultural andhistorical significance toHawaii.
Reservations arenot required. The event
is free and open to thepublic.

Students from Sensei Candy Cann’s Religion class at Leeward Community College visited the shrine on Friday, March20.

Students from Sensei Jay Sakashita’s Religion classat Leeward Community College visited the shrine on
Tuesday, February 10.

Actors of Rogue City Productions rehearsing a take from their
new ninja movie filmed at the shrine on April 26

Ashley Atkinson of Knox College, Illinois shadowed
Rev. Takizawa for two days in March as part of her
thesis in Shinto.

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