Haw aii Kotoh ira Jin sh a
Haw aii Dazaifu Ten m an gu

Jun e 2022

The Hanayagi Dancing Academy Hawaii Foundation's Board members and Natori instructors, lead by principal
Hanayagi Mitsujyuro and president Jensen Toma visited the shrine for a blessing on 6/19. The Foundation will
be celebrating 75 years of artistic excellence with a dance concert at the Mamiya Theatre on 6/26.

DONATIONSCorniche Kabushiki Kaisha
Bill & Keiko Doughty
Bryson & Reiko Goda
Hanayagi Dancing AcademyHawaii Foundation
Mitsuru & Pam Igarashi
Seizo Imamura
Rodney & Sharon Isa
James & Melba Kurashige

CALENDAR
Tanabata is one ofJapan's five seasonal
festivals.
Originating in China
as Qixi and firstobserved in the8th century, the festival
marks the annual meetingof Orihime (Vega) theweaver star and Hikoboshi(Altair) the Cow herd star.

Steve Miwa
Shinken & Marilyn Naitoh
Craig & Diane Nishida
Mitsunobu Ohashi
Akiko Sanai
Gary & Linda Shinsato
Robert Stallings
Mark Suzumoto
Naomi Teramoto

Tanzaku tags and pens will beavailable in the shrine from July 1 July 7 between 8:30 am - 4:00 pm.
Write your wishes on one of thetanzaku tags of various shapes
and hang them on the bamboobranch.
Mahalo to Dian e
Nish ida forcrafting thetanzaku tags.

JULY
1-7

8:30 am - 4:00 pm
Tanabata Wish Tags available
in the shrine

33:00 pm (INTERNAL)
Tsukinamisai Monthly Service

AUGUST
1

Back-To-School Blessing(CANCELED)
2:00 pm (INTERNAL)
Tsukinamisai Monthly Service

SEPTEMBER
1

8:30 am (ONLINE ONLY)
Shichigosan, Totose no Oiwai,
Jusan Mairi, Seijin Shiki
reservations acceptedGOKITO Private Blessin gs

Getting a new job is always amoment of great significance.
Wishing you all the best for yourcareer ahead !!!

Private blessing to express
gratitude for the safe completionof a home construction.

A belated Kanreki blessing was
performed for a shrine friend

Welcome to Hawaii !!
Dance Master Hanayagi Kusumitsu visited the shrine on 6/22 withDance Master Hanayagi Mitsujyuro (Bryson Goda).
Kusumitsu sensei is a featured dancer in HDAHF's dance concert
celebrating 75 years of artistic excellence on 6/26. He was born inKumamoto and has dance studios in both Tokyo and Kumamoto.
Having trained under 3 Iemoto Grand Masters - - Hanayagi Jusuke III, IVand V, Kusumitsu Sensei received his Natori Dance Instructor 's license
at the age of 15 and Shihan Dance Master 's license at 26.

KOMAINU
Guarding the entrance of Hawaii
Kotohira Jinsha - Hawaii Dazaifu
Tenmangu are two Komainu,literally, Korean Dogs.

The word Koma is an ancientJapanese word for the Goguryeo
Dynasty of Korea which ruled
northern Korea from 1 BCE to 7
CE and inu is dog.
The shrine's Komainu is said togave been shipped fromYamaguchi-ken and assembled in

Honolulu in 1935 and is thelargest set that exists in theUnited States.
The Komainu at the shrine is said
to be unique in design andthought to have been crafted in
Shunan city in east central
Yamaguchi-ken.
The shrine komainu resembles
those that are named Tokuyama
Komainu which can be seen at
Tainan Jinja in Taiwan and Ima
Hachimangu, Kumano Jinja andSata Hachimangu in
Yamaguchi-ken
The Komainu are typically maleand female and includes one with
an open mouth and one with aclosed mouth.
The open mouth is pronouncingthe word "ah" and the closed

mouth is pronouncing the word"um" which symbolizes "OM" the"alpha" and "omega" of theSanskrit alphabet.

The Komaimu is thought to haveoriginated in Egypt, Mesopotamia
or India but the ones that were
imported to Japan during theHeian period (794-1185 CE)
originated in China during theTang dynasty (618-907 CE) andwas transported to Japan via theKorean peninsula.

KOMAINU
Those imported from China wereoriginally lions which eventually
evolved into komainu or Korean
dogs in Japan.

Komainu are believed tosymbolize the eradication of evil
and the protection of the areaaround the kami.

Many scholars claim that theKomainu which were fabricatedafter the 1700s is an imaginary
animal which was a crossbetween a lion and rhinoceros two animals which were notnative to Japan.
Komainu grew in popularity during
the 1700s when many shrine andtemples began erecting them as
guardians of the shrine or temple
sanctuary.
There are many animal
decorations guarding shrine
precincts such as oxen in front ofDazaifu Tenmangu shrines, foxes
in front of Inari shrines, etc.

From right to left:
Hiroshima-ken
Hatsutaro Yoshioka, MagoichiroAoki, Ishimatsu Ogitani, Gisaku
Fujishima, Iwata Ozaki,
Takeichiro Nakanishi, Iwano
Nakanishi, Akitaro Yoshioka,
Mansaku Kaizuka, Ganichi Ueda,
Kanroku Miwa

From right to left:
Yamaguchi-ken
Soichi Ichiriu, Kamejiro Hasuike,Seiichi Nishihara, Hirozuchi
Sakumoto, Shimo Sakumoto,
Miyozuchi Komeya, TorakichiKaji, Tsunejiro Murakami, Kouchi
Kuromoto, Kyutaro Nomura,
Takejiro Nakazuka, Shigeru
Higashino, Masanori Kawamoto,Eiichi NagaoMAINTENANCE
Summer isupon us andpruning must
be done toremove weak,over hanging
branches forsafety and to
reduce any
growth and tocontrol rootspreading.

On an almost daily basis after the shrine
closes - - trespassers have used theshrine's mailbox as a stepping stone toenter the property from Kama Lane for ashortcut to Olomea Street.
There are signs that are clearly posted for
No Trespassing that states that trespassing
on private property is actionable. Despite,
any mailbox installed is flattened in about
6 months by fence jumpers.
Given the steep financial and legal
consequences that trespassers have, it's adaily struggle for the shrine to keep fence
jumpers off the shrine property.

The shrine's Dwarf
Pineapples are
beginning to mature
again this year.
The Dwarf Pineapple
is native to Surinam.
This family line from
Hilo has been
extended for about
4 years and has
been a delightful
addition to theshrine yard.