Hawaii Kotohira Jinsha - Hawaii Dazaifu Tenmangu
AUGUST 2018

Th e an n u al Back -To-Sch ool Blessin g w as per f or m ed on Su n day, Au gu st 5

M AHALO

Pr ivat e Blessin gs

f or you r don at ion s
Thomas & Linda Agawa
Bob Harada
James & Melba Kurashige
Tomohiko Matsuyama
Clara Matsuzaki
Steve Miwa
Shinken & Marilyn Naitoh
Adele Nakamura
Craig & Diane Nishida
Nicholas & Yoko Ponce
Justin Sakaue
Akiko Sanai
Gary & Linda Shinsato
WIC LLC

Congratulations to shrine friend
Ak ik o San ai for her first piano
concert in Vienna, Austria on August
16, at the famed Palais Ferstel.
Akiko left Honolulu on August 4thand has been spending her days inVienna rehearsing for the concert.

A Memorial service was conducted for
Lulu - a beloved pet that was blessedwith a warm and happy home withthis family

Japan is still seeking relief from the worst flooding in 36 years.
Overflowing rivers and landslides have displaced thousands - the worst
hit being Hiroshima and Okayama. Hiroshima is home to one of the sevenshrines enshrined here - Otaki Jinja of Otake City.
The shrine board has approved $1000 to be donated to Jinja Honcho tostrengthen disaster resilience of communities in Japan. May you be
blessed abundantly for your generosity that has allowed the shrine toshare contributions that will have a major impact in relief efforts of theflood victims.

A private blessing was conducted for
Yoshi, a 5-year old Boston Terrier whowas diagnosed with cancer.

Back -To-Sch ool Blessin g
The Back to School
season is a time filledwith capturing the lastdays of summer and at
the same timeassembling schoolsupplies, coordinating
new wardrobes andadjusting to newschedules.
This is a time that brings
about a variety ofemotions for parents,
teachers and students as
a new school year begins.
Hawaii Dazaifu
Tenmangu, branch of thefamous shrine in Fukuoka
offered a special blessing
seeped in ancient
tradition honoring
students of all ages sothey may be blessed withthe spirit of learning, takedelight in new discoveries
and persevere in theirstudies and be safe andfree from violence andcrime.
Kicking off the event wasa service officiated byRev. Takizawa andattended by President
Shinken Naitoh, andvolunteers.
New pencils, new books,
new classrooms - asstudents head back toschool and colleges, weoffer them our warmest
thoughts and mosthopeful prayers.
To the educators thatparticipated, a heart- felt
Mahalo for your devotion
and inspiration that helps
us to learn.

Dazaifu Tenmangu of
Fukuoka prefecture, is themain shrine of over 6,000
Tenmangu shrines inJapan dedicated to thegreat scholar andstatesman Sugawara
Michizane.
Michizane was a 9thcentury nobleman who
was falsely accused of
improprieties at theimperial court and exiled
to Dazaifu where he diedin 903 CE before being
exonerated.
His spirit was deified andrevered as the kami ofeducation, culture and thearts
Chief Priest Nobuyoshi
Nishitakjatsuji of Dazaifu
Tenmangu Fukuoka is the
38th descendant of
Sugawara Michizane.

M AHALO Volu n t eer s
8/ 4 Sat u r day
Clean u p & Pr ep
Bob Harada
Arthur K. Isa
Marilyn Naitoh
Shinken Naitoh
Craig NishidaDiane Nishida

8/ 5 Su n day
Back -To-Sch ool Blessin gKyle Chun
Keiko Doughty
Tiare Faatafuga
Kilala Hall
Victoria HallettKathy Hamada Kwock
Miyoko Hanahara
Bob Harada
Stacie Hata
Gaylen Komatsu

Kell Komatsubara
Milton Kwock
Marilyn Naitoh
Shinken Naitoh
Nicole Nakagawa
Craig NishidaDiane NishidaDiane Ogasawara
Kenyu Oshiro
Yuko Takahashi

View event photos at: www.flickr.com/kotohira-dazaifu

Yam a n o Hi (M ou n t ain Day)
Japan currently has 16 nationalholidays. A new holiday wascreated in 2016 with the intentionof giving the hard-working
Japanese a break from work while
spending time in the mountains
with family members and friends.
The newest holiday is called
Mountain Day or Yama-no-Hi andis celebrated annually on August11th.
Mountain Day will celebrate allthings mountain-related in Japan,
which is a nation whose culture isfounded on nature-inspired
Shinto.
It is the first official public holiday
in August. Obon season also falls
in August, but it is not a National
holiday as many people take paid
leave to return home to be withfamily.

CALENDARSEPTEM BER

August 11 was chosen because
the eighth month is denoted bythe kanji ?? ?? which resembles amountain.

1In addition, there are no otherpublic holidays in August, so it
was hoped that people wouldstop working on the 11th to enjoy
the mountains.

9 amReser vat ion s accept ed f or
Sh ich igosan , Ju san M air i,
Tot ose n o Oiw ai, Seijin Sh ik i

29

1 pm
Clean u p & Pr ep

To celebrate Mountain Day,
Japanese people are encouraged
to visit rural mountainous areas
across Japan, which should beeasy as over 73% of Japan's terrain
is mountainous.
Worldwide, there is one otherMountain Day - an International
holiday celebrated on December
11th , which was created by theUnited Nations General Assembly
to encourage sustainable
development in the mountains.

30 3 pm
Au t u m n Th an k sgivin g Fest ival

OCTOBER
20 10 am
Sh ich igosan pr ep
21/27/28 9 am - 4 pm
Sh ich igosan
21 3 pm
Tsu k in am isaiM ain t en an ce
Mahalo Nui Ru dy for continuing
to repair and paint the torii gate

The aged, tattered andfaded Moncho
curtains of the Kotohira-side of the shrine
were replaced on July 29.
Moncho curtains are made of white silk andspecially dyed with the crest of a shrine ortemple and used to decorate the interior ofa place of worship.

The male in thephoto was caught
on surveillance
video loiteringbehind the shrineon July 31 at around
8:15 pm.
As bizarre as it maysound, there areprotections fortrespassers if they
get injured while illegally entering
another 's property. Landowners are liable
for the injuries the trespasser sustains
from deterrents like trip wires, highvoltage electric fences, other devices orby simply falling while climbing your wall.
Some of the legal measures available tolandowners are No Trespassing signs andvideo surveillance.
Mahalo Nui to Bob Har ada for installinga No Trespassing sign on the Ewa-sidegate of the Olomea fence. The shrine
now has No trespassing signs on all gatesto deter people from entering andremaining unlawfully on shrine property.