Hawaii Kotohira Jinsha
Hawaii Dazaifu Tenmangu
Tanabata is oneof Japan?s fiveseasonal festivals
originating in
China and firstobserved in the8th century.
The festival
marks the annual
meeting ofOrihime (Vega)the weaver starand Hikoboshi(Altair) thecowherd star.
The shrine
celebrated
Tanabata July 1 7.

Ju ly 2017

M AHALO
f or you r don at ion s
Thomas & Linda Agawa
Natsuko Asuncion
Eientei Animations
Carly Fujinaka
Kumiko Futatsuiwa
Bryson Goda
Bob Harada
JoAnn Hino
Mitsuru & Pam Igarashi
James & Melba KurashigeMike Lee
Matthew Martin
Steve Miwa
Shinken & Marilyn Naitoh
Craig & Diane Nishida
Lynn Tomi-Paulo
Akiko Sanai
Gary & Linda Shinsato
The Sake Shop
Yurika Tan
Joy Tomita
Koji Tomita

Mahalo Nui to Th e
Sak e Sh op for their
donation of a drink
cooler.
The cooler wastransported to theshrine on 6/25 andplaced in themeeting room.

M AHALO
Bob Harada
Malcolm Leong
Craig Nishida
Rudy Santiago
Gary Shinsato

In the American calendar,
there is no day moresignificant then the 4th of July.
May we never forget the pricepaid for our freedom and thattrue freedom is accepting that
we alone are responsible forour lives.
This is the spirit on which ourgreat country was built.

In st agr am : k ot oh ir adazaif u

There was an attempted burglary of the shrine on Friday, June 23
at approximately 9:30 pm.
The would-be burglar(s) entered the shrine precinct by jumping
the fence from the Olomea Street/Honolulu Ford corner, tore off
the screen and proceeded to remove the top jalousie panel of thebasement bathroom window when the suspicious activity wasnoticed by this writer.
The intruder fled immediately after being discovered andcautioned. HPD was called to file a police report.
Lynn Van Deren and her students fromSacred Hearts Academy visited the shrine on
June 30 for a lecture on Shinto.

Kama Lane - between the shrine and King Street has had five
burglaries within a one-month period. All 5 homes were invaded
between 11 pm ~ 4:30 am on a Friday night (early Saturdaymorning).

Happy Birthday
to Rev Takizawa
and shrine
President Dr.
Shinken Naitoh,
the two July
Monkeys !!
Hope this is thebeginning ofyour greatestand mostwonderful year.

HPD officer dusting for prints

Meeting room window without a screen andmissing the top jalousie panelJu ly Tidbit s 7-7
7-7 is Tanabata, a Japanese andChinese festival that celebrates theannual meeting of celestial lovers.
July 7 also holds great significancein the history of Hawaii. It was theday of the annexation of theHawaiian Islands.
Upon the overthrow of Queen
Lili?uokalani in 1893, the Committeeof Safety led by Lorrin A. Thurston
established the Provisional
Government of Hawaii to govern
the islands in transition until theexpected annexation by the U.S.

President Grover Cleveland, whowas strongly against annexation
withdrew the annexation treaty
and recommended the restorationof Lili?uokalani as queen.
Natives of the Hawaiian Islands,
who strongly opposed annexation,organized protests in response toannexation attempts. They ralliedbehind two groups: Hui Aloha ??ina(Hawaiian Patriotic League) and HuiK?lai??ina (Hawaiian PoliticalAssociation).
On July 4, 1898, the U.S. Congress
passed the Newlands Resolution
which officially annexed Hawaii.
It was signed into law by PresidentMcKinley on July 7, 1898.
Despite the efforts and protests of
the opposition, a formal ceremony
was held and the flag of thePresident Sanford Dole being sworn in at'Iolani Palace

Kingdom of Hawaii over 'Iolani
Palace was lowered and the flag of
the United States was raised on
August 12, 1898.
Sanford B. Dole, former Supreme
Court Justice was elected as thefirst and only president of the newregime.
Hawaii's strategic location to
support the Spanish?American War
in the Philippines made annexation
especially important to Americaninterests.

w w w.f lick r .com / kot oh ir a-dazaif uLor d of t h e Bon Dan ce
The traditions of Bon or Obon were
imported to Hawaii in the late 19thcentury with the Japanese Isseis.

Each Bon Dance club specializes in
the music and dance of one of theprefectures of Hawaii's immigrants.

Merchants were at the bottom of thesocial order because they generated
wealth without producing any goods.

Bon Dances were first performed in
the fields and around the homes of
the Japanese laborers during themonths of July and August.

One of the two live songs performed
at local Bon Dances are - Soma Bon
Uta (Fukushima Ondo) and Iwakuni
Ondo. The Iwakuni Ondo and style ofbon odori is one of the oldest genres
represented in Hawaii.

As such, in a castle town like Iwakuni,
samurai and peasants never danced
together or shared the same music ordances during Obon.

It wasn't until the 1930s that various
temples began offering Bon rituals
followed by Bon Dancing.
The Bon Dance is a way of expressing
gratitude to ancestors and loved ones
no longer here. It is also a way ofreflecting upon the preciousness andfragility of this life.

Photo of an Iwakuni Ondo drummer taken
sometime in the 1940s

The samurai class danced to Nanjo
Odori, farmers to Iwakuni Ondo andtownfolk to Konuka Odori.

During the Tokugawa Era (1603-1868)
the Tokugawa government created asocial order called Shinokosho - theFour divisions of society, that would
stabilize the country. This system wasbased on Confucianism andcomposed of samurai (shi), farming
peasants (n?), artisans (k?) andmerchants (sh?).

Since most Japanese immigrants fromIwakuni were farmers, Iwakuni Ondo
was the dance of choice for the Isseis
from Yamaguchi prefecture. Iwakuni
Ondo was endearingly known as
Chongare or Chongari by the Isseis.

Samurai were placed at the top ofsociety because they set a high moral
example for others to follow. Farmers
came second because they produced
the most important commodity, food.
Third were artisans because they
produced nonessential goods.

The songs chronicle history, current
events, entertainment and politics.

A singer of Iwakuni Ondo stands inthe yagura tower holding a Japaneseumbrella and sings a unique songwith a 7 - 5 cadence.

The most popular song in Hawaii untilthe 1970s was "Ah~442 Butai" or The
442 Infantry Regiment.
The umbrella is said to help extend
the singer 's voice down to the crowd.

Upon moving to Honolulu in 1937,Kunichika honed his skills in singing
and composing verse under theIwakuni Ondo Group.
In 1951, Kunichika and Goichi Fukunaga formed the Iwakuni Odori AikoKai. Kunichika grew the group from30 members to over 200.

James Kunichika singing Iwakuni Ondo

The foremost authority and individual
attributed to the preservation andperpetuation of Iwakuni Ondo was
Jam es Tosh iich i Ku n ich ik a.

Foundation on Culture and the Arts.
Behind every great man stands agreat woman. Kunichika's wife,
Katherine, also a descendant of Isseis
from Iwakuni supported his love ofIwakuni Ondo and its time-honored
traditions which span 6 generations.

Kunichika has earned accolades suchas the Pan-Pacific Festival's Silversword Award for cultural excellence,
Living Treasures of Hawaii in 2006
and has had his music recorded andarchived by the SmithsonianInstitution, the Library of Congress,
the Bishop Museum and the StateJames & Katherine Kunichika

Kunichika was born on January 1,1915 on Kauai. His mother was from
Iwakuni and often sung Iwakuni Ondo
at various temples on Kauai.

The shrine's enduring legacy was built
and perpetuated by such passionate
and devoted officers like James &Katherine Kunichika.

Kunichika followed in her footsteps
and became a singer of Iwakuni Ondo
in 1935 at the age of 18.

Katherine passed away in 2004 after
61 years of marriage with James.
James left this world in 2012.

Kunichika's granddaughter Kelli Miyata
Yamamoto dancing to Iwakuni Ondo

CALENDAR

M ain t en an ce
Maintenance projects
continue throughout themonth of July - - Shrine door
Restoration Project by Fr ed
Higa Jr ., Painting by BobHar ada, lock repairs byAr t h u r Isa, Electricalupgrades by Hir osh i Den k i
and Security Camera
upgrades by M ik e Lee andGar y Sh in sat o

AUGUST
51 pm
Edu cat ion Blessin g Pr ep

610 am ~ 2 pm
Back -To-Sch ool Edu cat ion
Blessin g

SEPTEM BER
1Accept in g r eser vat ion s f orSh ich igosan & Ju san M air i

33 pm
Tsu k in am isai & Ch oyo
n o Sek k u

23 1 pm
Au t u m n Taisai Pr ep
24 3 pm
Au t u m n Th an k sgivin g
Fest ival