Hawaii Kotohira Jinsha
Hawaii Dazaifu Tenmangu
V O L U M EI VJ U LY

2 0 0 8Where ancient traditions thrive

Chinowa - Ring of Renewal
The shrine’s annual Chinowa
event took place on Saturday, July 12

from 4:00 pm.
We are each filled with universal life force energy. This energy isthe essence of our being, our consciousness, our soul. As the flow of life
force energy moves through our physical, emotional, and spiritual bodies, it
can become unbalanced, stagnant, orblocked. When this happens, we experience what is called dis-ease.
“Dis-ease," as the spelling suggests, is "lack of ease." It is the inability of one's life force energy to flow
freely. Disease is our reaction to unbalanced life force energy in our physical, emotional, or spiritual body. This
unbalanced energy can manifest as
physical problems or life patterns andcycles that keep us from growing.
The busy pace of our lives
keeps most of us stressed and out ofbalance – moving us at sonic speed
from one activity to another, pushingus through an endless schedule of so-cial obligations. This frantic pacetakes a toll on our bodies, minds, andspirits.
There are many techniques
we can use to release stagnant energy. However, with all healing
techniques, or medical intuitive healing, the healer can only assist in restoring balance to our life force energy. We must be willing to releasestagnant energy ourselves in order toexperience its affects on physical,
emotional, or spiritual levels.
The ancient people used rituals to initiate the process of release,revitalization and renewal. Revitalization is the shedding of an old form
to permit expansion into a new andmore inclusive form with a greater
capacity for expression of Spirit.
Chinowa is an ancient ritual
dating back to the eighth century,
meant to invoke a greater flow ofenergy, of continuous revitalization
and renewal and to promote a senseof connection, of interdependence, ofgratitude to our existence.
Our Chinowa is constructed with Tileaves, the sacredsymbol of our hostculture.
Throughrituals such as this,
we are grounded in
the past; we celebrate the gifts ofthe present, andanticipate thepromise of the future.
A big Mahalo goes out toour event chair
Axel Obara, mem-bers, supporters and volunteers fortheir kokua in the event.
Our heartfelt appreciation
also goes out to Paul Uyehara ofAloha Tofu Factory for their donation of soy products, Hanayagi
Dancing Academy Hawaii Foundation for their donation of the Hachimaki crafts, Principal Michael
Weaver of Damien Memorial
School and Scott Kaichi of Marshall’s Shell Service for use of theirparking facilities, Jun Shiatsu Seitai

Mahalo for your generous donations
Thomas & Linda AgawaAloha Tofu Factory
Dan & Chieko BillickDazaifu Tenmangu, Fukuoka
Toshiko Fujisaki
Hoh-chigai Jinja, Osaka
Hanayagi Dancing Academy
Bob Harada
Ryuji & Yumi Hoshino
Mitsuru & Pam Igarashi
Kyoko Isa
Lorraine Kadota
Elaine Komatsu
Ernest & Chiyoko Lau

Roy Morioka
Shinken & Marilyn Naitoh
Rocky Nakahara
Hatsuko Nakazato
Diane Ogasawara
Nakazato Fish Market
Pat & Jeanette Nakata
Craig & Diane Nishida
Jill Nishida
Bryan & Kayoko Ross
Kenneth & Kumiko Saiki
Sakura Kai
Yasuko Takeuchi
Hiroko WarnerHawaii Kotohira Jinsha - Hawaii Dazaifu Tenmangu is a 501C3 nonprofit church.
All contributions are tax deductible to the fullest extent allowed by law.

Mahalo Chinowa Volunteers
Dane Canida
Melissa Castillo
Michael Chang
Thomas Chung
Loreto Coloma
Paul Fung
Bryson Goda
Bob Harada
Stephanie Honda
Ryuji Hoshino
Yumi Hoshino
Emi Igarashi
Kai Igarashi
Pam Igarashi
Arthur Isa
Arthur MJY Isa
Kyoko Isa
Lorraine Kadota
Shinano Kawahara
Kathy Kwock
Milton Kwock
Stephanie Lam

Angela Lee
Anita Lee
Brandon Lee
Shinken Naitoh
Michelle Nguyen
Sherry Nguyen
Craig NishidaDiane Nishida
Jill Nishida
Axel Obara

Natsu Okamura
Gwen ShigeokaTiffany Shigeoka
Peggy Su
Naomi Teramoto
Nishie Tomiyama
Tomoko Uematsu
Yasuko Yokoyama
Richard Yoshinaga

MAHALO NUI LOAJUN
Shiatsu Seitai

531-5400
Marshall’sShell Service

SHRINE CALENDAR

神社スケジュール

August 八月
2Clean up & Preparations 掃除と準備

3

Back-to-School Education Blessing てんじんさん学業成就

10 Tsukinami-sai Monthly Service 月次祭
23 Kapahulu Community Center Bon Dance カパフル盆ダンス
24 Hanayagi Dancing Academy Bazaar at the Shrine
花柳舞踊学校バザー

Bob Harada
GIVE 5
Arthur K Isa
Campaign - July Arthur MJY Isa

Mahalo Volunteers

Axel ObaraAsian Gambling Superstitions
Gambling has held human beings in thrall for millennia. It has been engaged in everywhere, from the dregs ofsociety to the most respectable circles.
Pontius Pilate's soldiers cast lots for Christ's robe as he suffered on the cross. The Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius was regularly accompanied by his personal croupier. The Earl of Sandwich invented the sandwich so that he could
avoid leaving the gaming table in order to eat. George Washington hosted games in his tent during the American Revolution and gambling is of course, synonymous with the Wild West.
Even at Dazaifu Tenmangu in Japan, an ancient stone dice (seephoto) dating back to the 10th century, was dug up on the grounds of theshrine. Archaeologists believe it was presented to the shrine as an offering ofa rare foreign object. Stone dice from China is documented as being imported
to Japan sometime in the 10th century
Gambling is one of the most superstitious businesses in the world
and it's not limited to the players. The casinos also respond to superstitions of
all kinds, especially those of their high rollers.
Asians believe that picking the right numbers can affect one’s fortune. For the Chinese, ‘8’ is associated with prosperity. Numbers such as ‘3’,
‘6’ and ‘9’ are also considered ‘good’ numbers that, when combined appropriately with ‘8’ or other numbers, can contribute to chances of winning.
A combination of ‘good’ numbers include ‘1388’ which sounds similar to ‘prosperity in one’s lifetime’ in Cantonese and ‘168’ which sounds similar to “prosper all the way.” Another good combination of numbers is ‘998’ whichsounds like ‘prosper for a long time.’
Some Chinese gamblers deliberately avoid hotel room numbers like ‘4.’ In Chinese and Japanese, the word forthe number 4, sei in Cantonese and shi in Japanese, sounds like the word for death and is therefore avoided. Also
avoided are the room numbers ‘58’ which sounds similar to ‘won’t prosper’ in Cantonese. Popular hotel room numbers
are ‘84’ which sounds like ‘prosperous till death’ or ‘18’ which sounds similar to ‘definitely prosper.’However, picking the wrong number or combination of numbers can be potentially disastrous. For example, aChinese gambler who boarded a shuttle bus to a casino in Macau noticed later that the bus license plate was ‘QF 1358’
which sounds similar to ‘won’t prosper in one’s lifetime’ in Cantonese. Thinking that he should not be overly superstitious, he ignored it but kept it at the back of his mind. When he lost that night, he put the blame on the shuttle bus with‘lousy’ numbers as the main cause of his misfortune.
The Rio in Las Vegas has traditionally been very popular with the Asian crowd. To accommodate their Asianclientele, the Rio decided to skip the 40s in the Masquerade Tower. Allegedly for the same reason, the Palms also choseto omit the 40s when numbering the floors in its towers.
When it came to the design of its high-roller accommodations, the Rio paid even closer attention to Asian superstitions. The Palazzo Suites, a self-contained nine-suite "villa" at the back of the Rio was custom-built for the casino's
high rollers, paying close attention to their personal likes, phobias, and idiosyncrasies. Not only was the number 4 omitted from all room signage and floor numbering, but also from any promotional product literature.
The hotel even commissioned original "lucky" artwork featuring multiple figures of 8, a number considered tobe highly auspicious in Chinese cultures because of its similarity to the word for "prosper." By the same token, the tollfree numbers for all Asian gamblers are always on 888 area codes, rather than just 800 numbers.
In Chinese, the word for "book" sounds like the word for "lose," and one high-stakes gambler from China wastroubled by this. As the hotel could never be certain of which suite he would be staying in, whenever he showed up, they
not only removed all the books from all the rooms, but even cut the spines off the TV guides, so that they were reduced
to piles of paper with no conceivable resemblance to books.
Close attention was paid to the principles of feng shui in all aspects of the design. For example, there is water atthe entrance to the facility and real plants throughout with nothing artificial or dried. The placement of the corridors andwalls is designed to allow chi to flow and circulate, with views of gardens and water all the way from the Suites to thecasino. Each master bedroom is located as far as possible from the front door and no bedroom has its entrance at the footof the bed, both considered important for peace of mind and good fortune. The extensive collection of original antiques
features no "headless" statues. Some genuine antique Roman figures had to be removed as they were missing body parts.
The most famous example of a casino in Las Vegas deferring to superstition was MGM Grand's decision to redesign the entire front entrance to the property in the late 1990s. Originally built as a gigantic lion's head, patrons wereobliged to walk in through the animal's huge gaping mouth. When it came to light that this was considered a very
unlucky practice by the Asian clientele, since it seemed like an act of submission, the hotel replaced the head with a conventional entrance and the trademark MGM lion is now represented by a 45-foot-tall bronze sculpture that looks out onto
the Strip.
The Wynn also skips the 13th floor and the 40s, plus floors 1 through 4, so the first floor is the 5th and althoughthe top floor is the 60th, in reality it's only the 45th.
Research has shown that the Chinese are willing to pay extra for auspicious house numbers, car plate numbers
and telephone numbers. Last year, the newspapers reported the license plate number AW6666 which sounds like‘smooth all the way’ was bought for US$34,000 in Guangzhou while the license plate number AC6688 which sounds
like ‘prosperity in every way, fetched US$10,000.
In keeping with auspicious numerology, the Venetian Macao-Resort-Hotel opened on 8/28 while the Beijing
Olympic will begin on 8/8/2008 at 8 pm.
There are probably as many superstitions as there are gamblers, even among the pros -- witness World Series ofPoker champion Johnny Chan and his ever-present "lucky" orange. Like the movie The Cooler, some Asian card rooms
feature people who are acknowledged to be lucky or unlucky and are paid by players either to stay close or go away.
Foxwoods Resort Casino and Mohegan Sun Resort and Casino, the world’s two largest casinos, are both Indiancasinos situated in Connecticut. It is the wealthiest US state per capita, with a population that is predominantly white, at76%. Only 3.2% are Asian American, yet over 2,000 Asian Americans gamble daily at Mohegan Sun, or 20% of allcustomers. Whether residents or tourists, Asian gamblers have indeed become a segment no casino can afford to lose.
Here are some of the other popular gambling superstitions:

DO:
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Wear red, especially underwear (originally a Chinese superstition)
Check into a room with 8 in the number.
Stack your chips neatly.
Sit on a handkerchief.
Sit astride your chair.
Switch on all the lights at home before you go out to gamble.
Keep a horny-toad toenail on your person.
Gamble with borrowed money.
For crap players: Blow on the dice to breathe life into them/seal in the good luck during a winning streak; give thedice to a woman who's never rolled them before; or rub them on the head of a redhead.
For slots: Wait until someone gets up from a machine that hasn't paid out in a long time as it's "due" to hit
If you're Filipino, bring your wife to the game if she's pregnant, or they let a pregnant women play for you.
If you're Chinese, stay away from monks and nuns before gambling.
Change machine/dice/cards if things aren't going your way.

DON’T:
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Wish a player good luck.
Lend money while gambling.
Pick up cards with your left hand.
In poker: Count your chips/money at the table; or allow anyone to look over your shoulder; or sit at the #10 seat; ordrop a card during a game.
In craps: Play at an empty table, or say -- or even think -- the word "seven"; or allow a male who's never rolled thedice before to roll; or allow the dice to roll off the table; or speak to or touch someone who's having a good roll.
In blackjack: Cut the deck or look at your double-down card (although for some people, to look is lucky),
Let dogs anywhere near a gambling table.
Touch someone's shoulder while he/she is gambling.
Enter a casino through the main door.
Talk about books around Chinese gamblers (the word "book" sounds like the word "lose").
There are Chinese gamblers who refuse to stay at the Luxor pyramid because a pyramid is a tomb.
One superstition in Las Vegas is to play on your birthday.
Play in a new casino the night it opens because someone's bound to hit a big jackpot. (A highly dubious premisethat owes its origins to Elmer Sherwin's $4.6 million Megabucks win on the opening night of the Mirage, in 1989.)
A better theory might be to play with Mr. Sherwin, who went on to hit another Megabucks jackpot at the Cannery in2005, the only person "lucky" enough to have hit the big one twice.

Dazaifu Tenmangu Sukei Kai Festival
78 members of the Dazaifu Tenmangu Sukei Kai, headedby Chief Priest Nobuyoshi Nishitakatsuji, visited the shrine onSunday, June 15. The ceremony was held in celebration of the40th anniversary of the Sukei Kai and the 55th Anniversary ofHawaii Dazaifu Tenmangu.
The ceremony was followed by lunch and entertainment
by lion dance and kung-fu demonstrations by Siu Lum Pai, Nihonbuyo by Sensei Hanayagi Mitsutamae, Bryson Goda and Jill
Nishida of Hanayagi Dancing Academy Hawaii Foundation andSensei Yasuko Takeuchi and her Sakura-kai Taisho-goto students
accompanied by Stanley Kawaguchi on Shakuhachi.
Japan entertainers included Shukuyo Sanban and Shimai
by former Mayor Yukio Moriyama and his group, Nihon-buyo andcalligraphy by the famed calligrapher, Master Shigeo Endo.

MAHALO Volunteers
Hanayagi DancingAcademyBob Harada
Ryuji Hosihno
Emi Igarashi
Kai Igarashi
Pam Igarashi
Arthur MJY Isa
Kyoko Isa
Stanley Kawaguchi

Brandon Lee
Jon Lower
Debbie Matsuo
Marilyn Naitoh
Shinken Naitoh
Axel Obara
Mitsunobu Ohashi
Natsu Okamura
Sakura Kai
Naomi Teramoto