Buddha Day 2019
Rinban Kenjun KawawataW‘wa’
harmony

Higashi Hongwanji
Hawaii Betsuin
Bulletin

4

April 2019

Higashi Hongwanji
Mission of Hawaii
At Higashi Hongwanji, we remaintrue to our origins
as an open Sangha, welcoming
anyone who wishes to learn more
about the Jodo Shinshu
tradition of Buddhism.
A registered 501(c)3 organization
Rinban: Kenjun Kawawata
Minister: Steven Toyoshima
Minister: Hidesato Kita
President: Kenneth SaikiVice President: Raymond Uyema
Secretary: Marian Tsuji
Treasurer: Karen Wong
1685 Alaneo Street
Honolulu, HI 96817
Tel: (808) 531-9088
Fax: (808) 531-3265
Email: betsuin@hhbt-hi.org
Wa is published monthly byHigashi Hongwanji Missionof Hawaii for its members
and friends. Comments,
articles and other items for
publication consideration
are welcomed.
Editor: Ken Saikie are celebrating Buddha’s birth in the month of April. ThroughBuddha Day, Hanamatsuri, we think about the importance andhow precious each individual life is.
It is said that when Buddha was born, he walked seven steps andsaid, “Above the heavens and below the heavens, I am the only noble
one.” This statement means I received a precious life. I think that Buddha
was saying that while representing all human beings and all life, eachlife has the same quality as Buddha’s life and each one of our lives isprecious and unique.
In The Larger Sutra, Buddha said, “Immersed in lust and craving,
human beings in this world are born alone and die alone. Depart alone
and arrive alone. From here, their actions lead towards a destinationthat is a place of neither pain nor pleasure—each individual must
experience this by himself, no one else can take his place.”
Buddha said that we are born alone and diealone, your karma leads your life, pain or pleasure.
Nobody takes your place. No one else can have yourlife. You cannot exchange your life for another.
Each individual life is unique. You are the only
one who can live your life. You might think that you
have a family, so you are not living alone. But eachindividual has to experience his or her own life.
Each individual has different favorite foods.
When families have dinner they may share and eat
Rinban Ken Kawawata
the same food but each one has a different taste.
Someone may complain that it is too salty or too sweet. Someone may
like spinach and someone else does not.
So even though we live together, we have different experiences andfeelings in our daily lives. Our individual life is different, unique andprecious. We are responsible for our own lives. No one else can takeresponsibility for your life. We cannot depend on anyone or anything.
We just rely on own selves and the dharma.
Do you remember the story, “The King and his Four Wives”?
Once upon a time there was a king who had four wives. The king
was about die, and in his last moments he called each of his wives to his
bedside one by one.
To the first wife he said, “You have been my most loyal and devoted
wife and I have loved you the most. I am about to die but I am afraidand don’t want to die alone. Please, will you go with me?”(cont’d on p. 2)

In Celebration of Buddha’s Birth
Hawaii Buddhist Council Buddha Day Service

Sunday, April 7 at 9:30 am
Honpa Hongwanji Mission of Hawaii • 1727 Pali Hwy., Honolulu

Betsuin Hanamatsuri Service

Sunday, April 14 at 10:00 am
Higashi Hongwanji Mission of Hawaii • 1685 Alaneo St., Honolulu

Buddha Day 2019 (cont’d from p. 1)
The first wife answered, “You have been a mostwonderful king and husband, showered me withdiamonds, gold and other riches, but I am sorry, I
cannot go with you.”
Then the king called second wife and asked her,“You have always been my most obedient wife. I am
about to die, and I don’t want to die alone. Please,
won’t you go with me?”The second wife answered, “You have been a mostgenerous and giving king and husband, and provided
me with a huge palace to live in with the the finest
furnishings, but I am sorry, I cannot go with you.”
He called his beautiful, talented andaccomplished third wife, of whom he was extremely
proud and showed off to neighboring kingdoms. But
when she was asked to accompany him in death, she
refused in the same way as his first and second wife
and walked away.
His fourth wife was very caring and supportive of
the king, and was always there in time of need,through good times and bad, to comfort him. Whenthe king asked her to go with him to the afterlife, shealso said, “You were a great king and husband, but I
cannot go with you. You can count on me to arrange
for a grand funeral and we will all attend the services,but I cannot go with you.”“Hanamatsuri is...

an expression of our joy of living and joy in being
able to encounter the teachings of the Buddha.”
In this parable, the first wife represents ourfortune. No matter how much wealth we haveamassed, we cannot take it with us when we die.
The second wife, is like our comfortable home wemust leave behind when we die, no matter how large,
comfortable and beautiful it may be.
The third wife symbolizes fame and social status.
Even if you’re a sports celebrity, a popular entertainer or
the President of the United States, in death your life
ends just like everyone else. We are all human beings.
The fourth wife is like our family. No matter how
much we love them or they love us, we cannot take ourfamilies along with us. When we die we must die alone.
We received precious life and we will die sometimein the future. Then what is the meaning of birth andlife? How can we find the meaning of our life? Whatcan we really depend on for a meaningful life?
The celebration of Hanamatsuri is not only thecelebration of the birth of one person who lived inhistory. Hanamatsuri is an expression of our joy ofliving and joy in being able to encounter theteachings of the Buddha.
			In gassho,
			Rinban Kenjun Kawawata

2

花

祭

河和田賢淳

り

この４月８日は釈尊がお生まれになった日です。釈尊のお誕生は花祭りと呼ばれお祝いされてきました。釈尊がお生まれになった時、空からは甘露の雨が降り、花々が咲き開き、そして大地が震動した、また釈尊は生まれてすぐに七歩歩かれ、「天上天下我独尊、この世界で私は本当に尊い存在だ」云われました。 この世界に生まれ出るということは希中の稀なことなのです。私どもは父母を縁として誕生しました。この縁を頂くことは想像もつかないほど希なことです。だからこの世に生を頂く事は大変尊いことなのです。お釈迦様はそのことを「我一人尊し」と言われたのです。そしていただいたと尊いいのちをむなしく送りたくない、それが迷いと苦の世界、
六道輪廻の世界を超えて、さとりの世界に歩む７歩目の歩みを表しているのです。
私ども人間は生まれてすぐ動物のようには歩けません
し、また話す事もできません。偉大な方の御誕生をこのような話をもって讃えてきたのです。
赤ちゃんが生まれた時、大声を出して泣き叫びます、
その大声は、今この世に大事な尊いいのちをいただいという叫びであり、また大地が震えるとはその感動でありましょう。私ども本当に感動した時私ども全身が震え、全世界が揺れ動くのです。
この誕生の感動は私どもの願いのあらわれです。実は私のいのちは生まれです前より生まれたいと願っていたと仏教では考えるのです。だから生まれた時、大きな声で泣きその感動をあらわすのです。そして誕生後も私どもはこの願いに後押しされながら生きるのです。いのちを無駄にせず生きたい、いのちを満足させたい。このよ
うな願いをもち、またこのような願いをかけられ生きているのです。それが六道輪廻を超える歩み、苦を乗り越えて生きる歩み、すなわち本当の事を知ってゆこうとす
る歩みとなり、真実の世界へ歩み７歩目の歩みとなるのです。私どもはこのような願いによって生かされているのです。この願いを本願と申します。真実に目覚めて生きよと願いがかけられているのです。それがお念仏、南無阿弥陀仏となってあらわれているのです。ですから生まれた瞬間の「おぎゃー」という感動の表現は、本願に遇ったというお念仏の叫びと同じことであります。
この感動を忘れずに生きたいことであります。今年も皆様とともにお釈迦様のお誕生をお祝いし、私どもの「誕生の意味を、そして生きる喜び」について聞いてきた
いと思います。
						
合掌						
河和田記

News on the

Betsuin Wireless

New Higashi Hongwanji board
elects new officers for 2019-2020

From opposite sides of the Pacific, Rev. Koen
Kikuchi (left) and Rev. Steve Toyoshima sharecommon experiences as Jodo Shinshu ministers.

New resident minister arrives
at Higashi Hongwanji Mission

Our Betsuin welcomes Rev. StevenToyoshima, a California yonsei, as its
new resident minister as of April 1.
Meanwhile, Rev. Koen Kikuchi,
who has been at the Betsuin since2015, moves to Kaneohe Higashi
Hongwanji as its resident minister toreplace Rev. Hideaki Nishihori, who
returned to Japan in February.
Kikuchi-sensei will be surely andsorely missed at the Betsuin, alongwith his wife, Mai, and children, Ren,
Kokoro and Hana, who brightenedup the temple by their presence atthe temple over the past 3½ years.
Rev. Toyoshima, however, brings
his own unique style and youthful
personality with him and we eagerly
look ahead to getting to know him
better and growing with him.
Having just arrived on March 28
from LA on the late evening Hawaiian
Air flight, he is still trying acclimate
himself to our weather conditions,though he found the coolingtradewind breezes easy to like.
We will publish a profile on Rev.
Toyoshima in an upcoming issue of
Wa. Meanwhile, please feel free todrop by to introduce yourself andwelcome him to our ohana.

As you may know, at the annual
general membership meeting held
Feb. 24, a new of board of directors
was elected to help guide ourcentury-old Betsuin into its next
phase of sharing Jodo Shinshu
teachings with the island community.
On March 3, the board held aspecial meeting to elect new officers to
help provide the leadership andguidance to take the temple into thenext generation and beyond. They are:President - Ken SaikiVice President - Ray Uyema
Secretary - Marian Tsuji
Treasurer - Karen Wong
We thank all our officers andmembers who have served in the past
for their efforts to get us to this pointin the temple’s long history.
We look forward to continuing towork with all of you while weremember our humble roots andwelcoming sangha. At the same time,
we will strive to expand and improve
our various initiatives to become theacknowledged leader in our Jodo
Shinshu tradition in Hawaii.
With your cooperation and help,
we are confident we can achieve ourgoals. Please feel free to share youropinions and ideas with our board.

trauma. It’s a beautifully crafted film.
At face value it would seem like a
provocative topic—suicide—but it’srefreshing in that it lacks thesensationalism of suicide in Japan.
It’s a tender and raw portrait of anindividual captured in warm lightand with comfort food.
Awards include Best Documentary,
Moscow Film Festival (2017); nominee,
Independent Spirit Awards (2018).
Showtime: 6:30 pm, Tues., April
23, 87 min. Directed by Lana Wilson.
Color, Japanese audio, English
subtitles. Free admission. Light
refreshments, or bring to share!
ザ・ディパーチャー

元パンクロッカーの臨済宗住職、根本
一徹さんは、現在は岐阜県関市の大禅寺を拠点に、自殺防止の相談を受け、日々深刻な問題を抱える自殺願望者たちに全身全霊で語りかけている。アメリカ人であるラナ・ウィルソン監督が、臨済宗の住職、根本さんを知った経緯は「ニューヨーカー誌で根本一徹さんについて書かれた記事を読んだの。読んですぐに、彼の行っていることに興味を持って、もっと彼のことが知りたいと思ったわ。特に、彼に助けを求めてきた人たちに対して、

April film The Departure: “Like ahaiku...a work of art...stunning”

This profound movie is not to be
confused with another great 2009
film with a similar name, Departures(Okuribito), which we showed during
a movie night six years ago. This 2017
documentary is about a man whoserole as a father appears to be his own
spiritual awakening. Ittetsu Nemoto isa former punk rocker-turned-Buddhistpriest at a temple in Gifu, Japan. His
daily life is consumed with needs anddemands of people on the brink ofsuicide while he is struggling himself
with his own health, being a husband,a father, demands for his own selfcare and the challenges of enforcing
boundaries with people who are in

彼はどのような言葉をかけたのかが気になり、その場に居たいとも思ったのよ。そこで、大禅寺のことを知り、死に対して真剣に向き合う機会を観客に提供できるのではないかと思ったのが製作のきっかけだったわ」と明かした。
公開 : 2017年、カラー、言語 : 日本
語、字幕 : 英語 、映時間 : 87分、４月23日(火)午後6:30時、入場無料。

3

HAWAII DISTRICT2019 Joint Gathering
March 9, 2019R

ev. Patti Nakai was persuaded
to make a trip from her Chicago
home temple to be keynote speakerfor our Hawaii
District Joint
Gathering on
March 9. She
spoke about“Coming into
Community:
What Shinran
Learned from
Honen,” as acontinuationRev. Patti Nakai
of our Jodo
Shinshu denomination’s “Let Us
Discover the Joy of Living” theme.
She first provided some insightas to why a young prince, who was tobecome Sakyamuni Buddha, would
leave a palace where one could
ostensibly live a luxurious, joyful
life. He realized, however, that he
was in fact surrounded by sickness,
death, old age and war, which leads todepression, anger and hostility.

Rev. Nakai pointed out thatbesides having the Buddha and thedharma, one must have the sangha
to be a Buddhist, to show and sharethe joy of living with others.
Both Honen and Shinran taught
followers that reciting the nembutsu
was a path to the Pure Land, which
was among the reasons they were
exiled from Kyoto. While Honenfounded the Jodo sect, it was
Shinran’s followers who later formed
the Jodo Shinshu sect.
Writing commentaries andhaving a wife and a large family
were key factors in the propagationof Shinran’s teachings long after
he died. The community provides
a megaphone effect in helping to
spread the message.
During a Q&A period following
her lecture, Rev. Nakai suggested
ways to open up to the community.
Meditation, or mindfulness, is agood gateway into Buddhism, taking
advantage of its current popularity.
Offering use of the facilities
for forums on homelessness andaffordable housing might be anotherway to promote the temple as a place
people can come to and know there
are caring people there.

Word Search
D H A N A M A T S U R I G
K M H D F N Z D J H M M A
W B D O L F A H I S X A M
A Q D T U F G V A M K T N
N O U P M D E G R H A X Z
J N B M B A I C D I X I Q
F D O O I J N A W G N O H
A O C D N F N H U A K L O
Y K N D I A B E T S U I N
S U T R A G H K I H T L P
G S A K Y A M U N I K U A
E A M U Y X P L N J I L B
W N C U H S N I H S J K L
Find the listed words in the diagram,running in any direction: forward, backward, up, down and diagonally.
HANAMATSURI		OBON
BUDDHA		 NAMUSAKYAMUNI		AMIDANIRVANA		 BUTSUHIGASHI		 JODOHONGWANJI		SHINSHU
HONPA		 DANA
LUMBINI		 BETSUINONDOKUSAN		
SUTRA

Shotsuki Observance for AprilO

ur monthly shōtsuki service in remembranceof temple family members who passed away inthe month of April of a previous year will be held thismonth on Sunday, April 21.

The following list includes temple members whose
deaths occurred this month during the past 50 years.
Please call the office at 531-9088 if you have any
questions about the listing.

Kanjiro Akizuki
Kikue Kaneshiro
Kihei Moriguchi
Katsuyo Oda
Ushi Shimabukuro Umeno Tanijo
George M. Tokunaga
Shimoe Grace Fujii Wallace M. Kawachi Chieko Moriguchi Tsutomu Ogata
Takashi Shimada
Edward M. Tokunaga
Shizu Fujimoto
Makoto Kaya
MiyokoO.
Shinkawa
Takino Motoyama Yuku Ohara
Dorothy F. Torikawa
Haru Fujiwara
George Makoto Kaya Clarence T. Motoyama Isamu Okazaki
Shigeru Shirabe
Henry K. Fukunaga Kenneth K. Kihara Henry Kichio Mukai George M. Omura Miyoko Shiramizu Robert K. Toyama
Kingo Gushikuma Jean Misao Kobata Ginichi Murakami
James Seiki Shiroma Haruko Tsuda
Larry Seiki Oshiro
Harriet Y. Gushikuma Uto Koja
Joseph I. Muratsuchi Rodney Yuji Oshiro Richard Osamu Sorida Matsue Tsuji
Richard M. Tsukiyama
Chotaro Hane
Herbert S. Kondo
Laura Sugai
Toyoko Murotake
Takashi Otsuka
Koichi UesatoSuna M. Harada
Masaru Kudo
Yutaka Sumida
Mutsu Nakagawa
Ruth Ayako Pacheco
Yoshiko Harauchi
Harry M. Kumamoto
Lorraine T. Sumiye Tome Ujimori
Myles M. Nakatsu
Alice Sueko Ramos
Shizuko Hayase
Heoji Kumashiro
Francis Torao Suzuki Jean Shizuko Uyema
MitsueNakayama
Kiyoto Saiki
Yukiye Uyeno
Yoshimi Hayashi
Takeo Kunimoto
Marian Taguma
Shizuko Nakayama Tane Sakamoto
Mitsuyo Watanabe
Takeo Higa
Taki Kurisaki
Alice Kikue Taira
Violet Y. Nakayama Shinzo Sakamoto
Toshiharu Yamada
Chougo Higuchi
Kimino Matsuda
Kitsu Takagi
Helen H. Narimasu Kumeyo Sakamoto James N. Takayama Mitsue Yamamoto
Takao Imayoshi
Yasu Matsuda
Matsuhei Saruwatari Hisayo Takenaka
Thomas M. Yamamoto
Harue Iwaki
Edwin S. Matsuoka Patsy H. Nikaido
Keith Mitsugi Sato Tatsue Takeshita
Shizuko Yamamura
Tadao Iwasaki
Classie A. McForland Juka Nishimura
Mume Nishimura
Chieko Sekiya
Tamayo K. Yoshimoto
Ralph K. Kaizuka
Harue Miike
Takeshi Tanaka
Henry Toshio Yoshino
Dennis K. Kanemori Misue Miyamoto
Shizue Nishioka
Take Serikawa
Shigeru Tanaka

4Higashi Hongwanji Mission of Hawaii
1685 Alaneo Street
Honolulu, Hawaii 96817

NON-PROFIT ORG.
U.S. POSTAGE
PAID
Honolulu, HI
Permit No. 693

Address Service Requested

In this issue of WA...
• Buddha Day 2019 p. 1
• 花祭り p. 2
• News on the Betsuin Wireless p. 3
• Welcome Rev. Steve Toyoshima p. 3
• New Betsuin officers elected p. 3
• April movie: The Departure (2017) p. 3
• 2019 Joint Gathering recap p. 4
• Word search p. 4
• April shōtsuki service p. 4
• Acknowledgments p. 5
• Temple activities calendar p. 6

Temple Activities Calendar
APRIL

MAY

4/1 Mon 10 am Meditation Sutra class
4/7 Sun 10 am HBC Buddha Day service			
Honpa Hongwanji Mission of Hawaii
			1727 Pali Hwy, Honolulu
			(no service at Betsuin)
4/8 Mon 12 pm 99 Lunch Bunch chat session
		 Moanalua 99 Food Court
4/9 Tue 3 pm Ukulele class/band practice
4/11 Thu 7 pm The Larger Sutra study class			 led by Rinban Kawawata in English
4/14 Sun 10 am Hanamatsuri service
4/14 Sun 12pm Basic Buddhism discussion in Japanese			 仏教入門（お話と座談会）		
4/15 Mon 10 am Meditation Sutra class
4/16 Tue 3 pm O-kō: Dharma discussion at Betsuin
4/18 Thu 7 pm Tea Time Fukuhara Conference Room
4/21 Sun 10 am Shōtsuki memorial service			Sunday school
4/21 Sun 12 pm Betsuin board meeting
4/21 Sun 12 pm Art of Paper Folding - Otani Center
4/23 Tue 3 pm Ukulele class/band practice
4/23 Tue 6:30 pm Movie night: The Departure (2017)4/28 Sun 10 am Shinran Shōnin memorial service &			
Sunday service/Sunday school

5/1 Wed 6 pm Bon dance practice - Otani Center
5/5 Sun 10 am Shōtsuki memorial service
5/5 Sun 12 pm Basic Buddhism discussion in Japanese
5/6 Mon 10 am Meditation Sutra class
5/8 Wed 6 pm Bon dance practice - Otani Center
5/9 Thu 7 pm The Larger Sutra study class			 led by Rinban Kawawata in English
5/12 Sun 10 am Mother’s Day family service
5/13 Mon 12 pm 99 Lunch Bunch chat session
5/14 Tue 3 pm Ukulele class/band practice
5/15 Wed 6 pm Bon dance practice - Otani Center
5/16 Thu 7 pm Tea Time Fukuhara Conference Room
5/19 Sun 10 am Shinran Shonin’s birthday service
5/19 Sun 12 pm Betsuin board meeting
5/19 Sun 12 pm Art of Paper Folding - Otani Center
5/21 Tue 3 pm O-kō: Dharma discussion at Kaneohe
5/22 Wed 6 pm Bon dance practice - Otani Center
5/26 Sun 10 am All Wars Memorial service
5/27 Mon 10 am Meditation Sutra class
5/28 Tue 10 am Shinran Shōnin memorial service
5/28 Tue 3 pm Ukulele class/band practice
5/28 Tue 6:30 pm Movie night: There Was a Father (1942)			

父ありき (出演者: 笠智衆)

Everyone is welcome to join the morning chanting held at 7 am daily (except on Sundays & the 28th day of the month) in the Betsuin main hall.