The Place Where I Belong
Rev. Steven Toyoshima‘wa’harmony

Higashi Hongwanji
Hawaii Betsuin
Bulletin

7July 2021

Higashi Hongwanji
Mission of Hawaii
At Higashi Hongwanji, we remaintrue to our origins as an open Sangha,
welcoming anyone who wishes tolearn more about the Jōdo Shinshū
tradition of Buddhism.
A registered 501(c)(3) organization
Head Minister: Kenjun Kawawata
Resident Minister: Steven Toyoshima
Minister: Akiko Okada
President: Kenneth Saiki
Secretary: Marian Tsuji
Treasurer: Shigeru Numano
1685 Alaneo Street
Honolulu, HI 96817Tel: (808) 531-9088
Fax: (808) 531-3265
Email: betsuin@hhbt-hi.org
Website: betsuin.hhbt-hi.org
Higashi Hongwanji Mission of Hawaii
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 SaikiG

etting into the Summer months always puts mein mind of Obon season, the wonderful time ofyear when the taiko drums thunder and the Mantō-epaper lanterns sway in the warm summer wind.
Obon for me has always been associated withhometowns and homecoming. Sadly, due to theongoing pandemic we are not able to gather together
for in-person Obon festivals this year. Althoughvaccinations and decreasing infection numbers have
Rev. Steve Toyoshimaallowed us to open up more in-person activities,
many of us are still waiting on being able to travel back home until after
Obon season is over to be on the safe side.
After a year and a half when traveling back home has not beenpossible, I have been thinking a lot about hometowns. The idea of thehometown pops up all the time in the enka music I love, many of themsinging from the perspective of people who left their hometowns andare now living far away. Perhaps no song reflects this nostalgic longing
for home than the John Denver song, “Take Me Home, Country Roads.”

Take Me Home, Country Roads
by Bill Danoff, Taffy Nivert & John DenverI hear her voice in the morning hour, she calls me
The radio reminds me of my home far away
Driving down the road, I get a feelingThat I should have been home yesterday, yesterday...
Even though the writers of the song had never set foot in West
Virginia before creating the song, the emotion and deep wish
to return home resonates beyond the Appalachian countryside
captured in the lyrics.
Not everyone has happy memories of their hometowns, but wecannot help but be shaped by the places, time and circumstances
we grow up in. As we deal with stress and anxiety in our daily lives,
our happy memories of who we once were and where we once lived
become comfortable places to return to.
The discomfort of being physically separated from our loved ones
is one of the causes of suffering or dukkha identified by Shakyamuni
Buddha. Our circumstances are constantly shifting and changing and wefeel bad when we cannot adjust or hang onto what used to be.
Although we hear these songs that make us nostalgic for home,the calling voice in the morning hour is really asking us to see that
our hometown is closer than we realize. Unlike the idealized or(cont’d on p. 2)

The Place Where I Belong (cont’d from p. 1)
impermanent hometown in our memories thishometown is a spiritual one.
Our true hometown is the world of limitless
wisdom and compassion that we symbolize in thewords “Namu Amida Butsu.” Realizing this opens oureyes to the countless people and things surrounding
us that are illuminating the dharma teachings for us
and supporting our everyday life.
夏になると、私はいつもお盆のことを思い出します。太鼓の音が鳴り響き、万灯籠が夏の暖かい風に揺れる素晴らしい季節です。
私にとってのお盆は、常に故郷と帰郷に関連しています。残念なことに、今年はパンデミックが続いているため、直接集まってお盆の行事を行うことができません。ワクチン接種や感染者数の減少により、対面での活動ができるようになりましたが、多くの方々は、安全のためにお盆の時期が終わるまで帰省することを控えています。
この1年半、故郷に帰ることができなかった私は、故郷について考えることが多くありました。私が好きな演歌の中には、故郷という概念が常に出てきます。その多くは、故郷を離れて遠くで暮らしている人の視点で歌っています。
ジョン・デンバーの「Take MeHome, Country Roads」（日本語名：「カントリー・ロード」）ほど、故郷を懐かしむ気持ちを反映した曲はないでしょう。
ウェストバージニア州に一度も足を踏み入れたことのない作者が作った曲

When this calling voice, this radio signal from ourtrue hometown reaches us and we are able to see theworld here and now as our true hometown clearly,
we naturally bow and express our gratitude in “NamuAmida Butsu.”
Even though I still miss the family, delicious
Mexican food and Obon festivals of my Southern
California hometown, I always try to remember thatthe country road leading to our true hometown is one
where we can travel gratefully wherever we are.
In gasshō,
Rev. Steven Toyoshima
も、朝の時間に聞こえる呼びかけの声
は、私たちが思っている以上に故郷が近くにあることを教えてくれているのだと思います。思い出の中の理想的で無常なふるさととは違い、このふるさとは精神的なものです。

心のふるさと豊島ステｲーブン開教係ですが、歌詞に込められた感動や故郷への深い思いは、アパラチアの田園風景を超えて響きます。
誰もが故郷に幸せな思い出を持っているわけではありませんが、私たちは育った場所、時間、環境によって個人が形作られていくことは避けられません。日々の生活の中でストレスや不安を抱えている私たちにとって、かつての自分や住んでいた場所での楽しい思い出は、心の拠り所になるはずです。
愛する人と物理的に離れてしまうことの不安や悲しみは、釈尊が指摘した苦しみ（ドゥッカ）の原因の一つです。私たちの状況は常に変化しており、調整できなかったり、以前の状態にしがみついたりすると、居心地が悪くなります。

私たちの本当の故郷は、「南無阿弥陀仏」という言葉に象徴される、無限の智慧と慈悲の世界です。このことに気づくと、私たちを取り巻く無数の人や物が、私たちのために法の教えを照らし、私たちの日常生活を支えていることに目が向けられます。
この故郷からの呼びかけの声が届き、今ここにある世界が本当の故郷であることが明確になったとき、私たちは自然に「南無阿弥陀仏」とお念仏をして感謝の気持ちを表します。
故郷の南カリフォルニアの家族や美味しいメキシコ料理、お盆のお祭りなどが恋しくなっても、本当の故郷に続く道は、どこにいても感謝しながら旅ができる道であることを忘れないようにしています。

故郷を懐かしむような歌を耳にしてカントリー ・ ロード

作詞：ビル ・ ダノフ、タフィー ・ ナイバート、ジョン ・ デンバー

彼女の声が聞こえた

朝早くに彼女は僕を呼んでいた

カーラジオを聞くと遠くの故郷を思い出す

車を走らせながら思ったんだ
昨日にでも2

故郷に帰るべきだった

昨日にでも...

合掌豊島ステｲーブン

and , tol on theNews
Betsuin board members in the news

In addition to helping ensure ourtemple runs smoothly and remains insound financial condition, yourvolunteer Betsuin board members areactively serving the community invarious capacities in public service andother organizations.
Board Secretary Marian Emi Tsuji
was appointed last month as deputy
director of behavioral healthadministration at the Hawaii State
Department of Health. Previously
Oahu branchadministrator atthe Department of
Human Services,
Division of
Vocational
Rehabilitation, shespent 12 years as
Marian Tsuji
president and CEOof Lanakila Pacific, a social services
organization that includes programs
for adults with disabilities.
Emi earned her MA in criminal
justice from City University of New
York and BA in sociology and criminal
justice from Long Island University.
Past Betsuin Treasurer Ed Nakano—our longest-serving board
member—starts his second year thismonth as president of the Hawaii
Society of Certified Public Accountants.
A member of the executive team ofC.S. Wo & Sons, Ltd., Ed serves as thekamaaina company’s corporate
secretary andtreasurer andoversees the Wo
family’s non-retail
activities, including
legal and tax issues,
procurement ofmajor equipment
Ed Nakanoand capital
expenditures, investments, property
management and estate and financial
planning for certain owners.
From delivering newspapers as a
6th-grader in Hilo to serving as a U.S.
Army infantryman in Vietnam to beinga CPA for 47 years, Ed is accustomed tofacing challenges head-on andBetsuin Wirelessadapting to and embracing newsolutions. We are very fortunate ourtemple has been a benefactor of his
professional expertise in establishingand cultivating a strong financial
foundation to ensure the temple’s
viability well into the future.
Board President Ken Saiki waspresented the 2021 United JapaneseSociety of Hawaii Award forContributions to theJapanese Communityand Hawaii at theorganization’s virtual
2021 Installation andRecognition Banquet
on June 26. He wasrecognized for hisKen Saiki
past and continuingcommitment and leadership inorganizations supporting efforts tostrengthen friendship between thepeople of Japan and the U.S.
Ken also serves as president ofHawaii Meijikai and director of theEhime Maru Memorial Association, as
well as several other local community
organizations. A retired Bank of America
and Central Pacific Bank marketing
executive, he also retired as a captain in
the U.S. Navy with 26 years of active andreserve service. He was conferred withan Imperial decoration by thegovernment of Japan in 2007.

most powerful antiwar statements,
both tender and brutal in its grapplingwith Japan’s wartime legacy.
Awarded the San Giorgio Prize,Venice Film Festival, 1956; nominatedfor Best Foreign Film at the AcademyAwards, USA,1957; among other awards.
Stars Rentaro Mikuni as Capt.
Inoue & Shoji Yasui as Pvt. Mizushima.
Directed by Kon Ichikawa. Japaneseaudio, English subtitles, 116 minutes.
Showtime: 6:30 pm, Tues., July 27.
Free admission, Light refreshments,or bring your own or to share.
ビルマの竪琴（ビルマのたてごと）
1956年に竹山道雄の同名小説を市川崑監督で映画化。日本兵の霊を慰めるため、僧侶となってひとりビルマの地に残る兵士の姿を描く。1945年夏。ビルマ戦線の日本軍はタイ国へと苦難の撤退を続けていた。そんな逃避行の最中、井上小隊長率いる部隊は、みな音楽好きで水島上等兵の弾く竪琴の音に合わせ力強く合唱していた。やがて終戦を知った彼らは投降し、ムドンに護送されることになったが、水島だけは未だ抵抗を続ける日本軍に降伏を勧めるため隊を離れるのだが…。

Movie Nights return, starting withKon Ichikawa’s The Burmese Harp

With Myanmar (fka Burma) in thenews cycle every day, we thought it
might be appropriate to mark MovieNight’s return from COVID hibernation
with an encore presentation of Kon
Ichikawa’s memorable film, The BurmeseHarp, featured back in March, 2014.
An Imperial Japanese Armyregiment surrenders to British forces inBurma at the end of World War II andfinds harmony through song. A private,
thought to be dead, disguises himself
as a Buddhist monk and stumbles
upon spiritual awakening. The 1956
b&w film is an eloquent meditation
on beauty coexisting with death andremains one of Japanese cinema’s

Kon Ishikawa’s “The Burmese Harp”wasmagnificentlly shot in hushed black & white.
受賞歴：1956年、ヴェネツィア国際映画祭サン・ジョルジオ賞受賞。1957年、米国アカデミー外国語映画賞にもノミネー
ト；そのほか。
出演者 井上：三國連太郎 水島：安井昌二 言語 : 日本語、字幕 : 英語 映時
間 : 116分、白黒、入場無料、７月27日(火)午後6:30時。

3

Manto-e Lantern
DecoratingWorkshopFamilies and individuals gatheredat the Otani Center workshop on
June 27 and put their creative hats on
to design their own Mantō-e lanterns
for Obon. They used watercolors,crayons, calligraphy and marking pens,construction. colored and origami
paper, parchment, glue, stickers,
glitter and other supplied materials topersonalize their lanterns.
Others brought old photographs
or wrote heartfelt messages of thanks
in memory of those who came before
us, making our lives and all that we
enjoy today possible.

It’s not too late to honor loved ones
with a Mantō-e lantern at Obon. Wewill print their names, Dharma names
and your name on a tablet to suspend
from your lanterns, which will be on
display in the Main Hall during Obon.
Lanterns are available for a donationof $35 each through July 16. You may
pick up and take your lantern home any
time after the July 18 Obon/Mantō-eservice, through the end of August.
Please visit the temple or email
your request to betsuin@hhbt-hi.org.
For your convenience, you may use theQR code below to order (left) and makeyour donation via PayPal (right).
ORDER
DONATEHIGASHI HONGWANJI HAWAII BETSUIN
Temple Activities Update
With about 60% of Hawaii residents now fully vaccinated, the decreasing rateof new COVID-19 cases and new, less restrictive guidelines for gatherings
both locally and nationally, we have selectively opened some temple
activities to in-person attendance as described below. We will continue toobserve current Oahu Tier 4 guidelines, including face mask, social distancing
and sanitation precautions, for the health and well-being of all in our Betsuinohana. If you have questions, please feel free to call us at (808) 531-9088 oremail betsuin@hhbt-hi.org.

Sunday services

Join us for weekly services in person or via
livestreaming from our public Facebook page
(Facebook account not required). Social distanced
seating for up to 24 inviduals; families may sit
together for additional capacity.

Shotsuki memorialservices

Social distanced seating for up to 24 persons in
the main hall; additional capacity when families
sit together. Families may offer incense as names
are called. Others may participate virtually.

Funeral &anniversary
memorial services

Social distanced seating for up to 24 persons in
the main hall; additional capacity when families
sit together. Families may offer incense as names
are called. Others may participate virtually. Please
consult a minister to make arrangements.

Bedside, burial &inurnment services

Please consult a minister to make arrangements.

Columbarium(Nōkotsudō)Open for visitation and floral offerings daily from9:00 am to 5:00 pm. Morning services conducteddaily at 7 am.

Otani Center
multi-purpose hall

Reserve for classes, meetings and other socialgatherings, subject to current Tier restrictions
on capacity and gathering maximums for theintended activity. Please contact the temple
office for rental and availability information.

Conference room
Study classes

Basic Buddhism, The Larger Sutra, Meditation
Sutra and TeaTime Okō: Zoom

Other activities

Movie Night: In person starting in July
Ukulele band, Karaoke Night: Hybrid (bothZoom and in-person) starting in July.

Subject to change. Please check with the temple office for any new updates.

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

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

Address Service Requested

In this issue of WA...
t5IF1MBDF8IFSF*#FMPOHp. 1t心のふるさと p. 2t News on the Betsuin Wireless p. 3
t Board members in the news p. 3tMovie night: The Burmese Harp (1956) p. 3tMantō-e lanterns for Obon p. 4t Temple reopening update p. 4t Acknowledgments p. 5
t July shōtsuki memorial service p. 5tTemple activities calendar p. 6

Temple Activities Calendar
JULY

AUGUST

7/4 Sun 10 am Shōtsuki memorial service - Facebook/In-person
Dharma message: Rinban Kenjun Kawawata
7/4 Sun 12 pm Basic Buddhism discussion - Zoom（とZoom ミーティン
led by Rinban Kenjun Kawawata in Japanese
7/7 Wed 5:30 pm Karaoke Night at the Betsuin - Zoom/In-person
7/9 Fri and 7/10 Sat No bon dance this year
7/11 Sun 10 am Sunday service - Facebook Live/In-person
7/12 Mon 10 am Meditation Sutra study class (English) - Zoom
7/13 Tue 3 pm Ukulele band practice - Zoom/In-person
7/13 Tue 6 pm The Larger Sutra study class (English) - Zoom
7/15 Thu 6 pm Okō/Tea time gathering - Zoom
7/18 Sun 10 am Hatsubon/Obon/Manto-e service
Facebook Live/In-person
7/18 Sun 12 pm Betsuin board meeting - Zoom
7/20 Tue 3 pm Ukulele band practice - Zoom/In-person
7/25 Sun 10 am Sunday service - Facebook Live/In-person
7/27 Tue 6:30 pm Movie night: The Burmese Harp ビルマの竪琴
7/28 Wed 10 am Shinran Shōnin memorial service - FB Live

8/1 Sun 10 am Shōtsuki memorial service - Facebook/In-person
Dharma message: Rinban Kenjun Kawawata
8/1 Sun 12 pm Basic Buddhism discussion - Zoom（とZoom ミーティン
led by Rinban Kenjun Kawawata in Japanese
8/4 Wed 5:30 pm Karaoke Night at the Betsuin - Zoom/In-person
8/8 Sun 10 am Sunday service - Facebook Live/In-person
8/10 Tue 3 pm Ukulele band practice - Zoom/In-person
8/10 Tue 6 pm The Larger Sutra study class (English) - Zoom
8/15 Sun 10 am Sunday service - Facebook Live/In-person
8/15 Sun 12 pm Betsuin board meeting - Zoom
8/19 Thu 6 pm Okō/Tea time gathering - Zoom
8/22 Sun 10 am Sunday service - Facebook Live/In-person
8/24 Tue 3 pm Ukulele band practice - Zoom/In-person
8/24 Tue 6:30 pm Movie night: Movie selection TBA
8/28 Sat 10 am Shinran Shōnin memorial service - FB Live
8/29 Sun 10 am Sunday service - Facebook Live/In-person

WEEKLY SUNDAY SERVICES: In-person attendance at
Sunday services has returned, face covering required, up
to social-distanced seating capacity. You may also view
our Sunday services ivestreamed and archived on ourpublic Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/
HigashiHongwanjiMission

NO BON DANCE AT THE BETSUIN THIS YEAR: In considerationof the health and safety of our Betsuin ohana, Higashi
Hongwanji Mission of Hawaii, as well as other denominations
affiliated with the Hawaii Buddhist Council, will not be holding abon dance this summer.
We hope conditions will be right next year for us to gather
once again for our annual bon dance tradition.