Hawaii Kotohira Jinsha Hawaii Dazaifu Tenmangu APRIL 2021

Natori instructors of Hanayagi Dancing Academy led by principal Hanayagi Mitsujyuro, held their annual New Years blessing DONATIONS The annual blessing for the Hanayagi Dancing Academy Hawaii Foundation Bill & Keiko Doughty Diane Nishida (HDAHF) was performed on March 28. Rodney & Sharon Isa Lillian Okamura The Academy was established by Hanayagi James & Melba Kurashige Clyde Shiigi Mitsuaki I (Viola Hosokawa) in 1947 to Yae Miko Jensen Toma perpetuate the Japanese spirit through Steve Miwa Sharon Toma dance, shamisen and Nagauta style singing. Shinken & Marilyn Naitoh Jasmine Umeno Her legacy was preserved and shared by Craig & Diane Nishida Mitsuaki II (Karen Fujishima-Lee). Akiko Sanai Hanayagi Mitsujyuro (Bryson Goda) remains Gary & Linda Shinsato SAKE - BEER firmly committed to fulfilling Mitsuaki I and Robert Stallings Mitsuaki II's legacy and has awarded Natori Kai Suzuki DONATIONS Instructor's licenses to one student of Dean & Natsuko Fujimoto Alice Uratsuka Nihonbuyo dance and two students of Fung & Yumi Yang Bryson Goda shamisen. Hanayagi Dancing Hanayagi Dancing Academy HI Foundation Congratulations to: Academy HI Foundation Islander Sake Brewery Hanayagi-ryu School of Nihonbuyo Gayle Fujihara Shinken & Marilyn Naitoh Hanayagi Mitsusae - Jasmine Umeno Bryson Goda Craig & Diane Nishida Kathy Hamada-Kwock Kineya School of Nagaut a Gary & Linda Shinsato Stacie Hata Kineya Sakiko - Lillian Okamura Lorraine Kadota Masa & Irene Takizawa Elaine Komatsu Nadine Uratsuka Kineya Sakikazu - Clyde Shiigi GOKITO Private Blessings

A Blessing was performed for baby Yakudoshi Blessing to ensure a We rejoice with you as you celebrate Lynn on 3/16 safe, healthy and peaceful year your Beiju 88th birthday!!!

A Beiju (88th Birthday) achievements, honor of ripening rice plants Blessing was their sacrifices and to in the rice fields and performed for a thank them for their of abundance and shrine friend on 3/27. love and wisdom. prosperity. Beiju or Yone no Oiwai Beiju is a play on kanji Common gifts to is a significant life characters - when 88 those celebrating milestone and a is written in kanji, it Beiju are rice, sake major cause for resembles the (made from rice) and celebration in Japan. character for rice. yellow or gold chanchanko Beiju Blessings are a The color for Kanreki vests. Yakudoshi Blessing - being grateful way to celebrate the is red. For Beiju, it is for the good things in life celebrant's yellow or gold - colors Tango no Sekku or Boy's Day finds In ancient China, it was thought imperial court and warrior class as it origin approximately 2,300 years that carps that swam upstream Tango no Sekku or Boy's Day - also ago in China and is thought to eventually became dragons. on the 5th day of the 5th lunar have been imported to Japan in month. In order to keep the dragons and the 7th century. evil spirits away from his body, Japanese warrior dolls, dolls of Qu Yuan (340 - 278 BCE) a villagers beat drums, splashed the Chinese heroes and Japanese statesman and renown poet was a water with their paddles and implements of battle along with member of the Chu royal clan in threw rice into the river as food carps are used to decorate homes ancient China and served as an offerings to his spirit. in hopes to ward off evil and grow official under King Huai of Chu. strong, honest, courageous and One night the spirit of Qu Yuan loyal sons. Qu Yuan was exiled because of appeared before his friends and slander by corrupt ministers at told them to wrap rice into three court and was reinstated but sent cornered silk packages to ward off to posts outside his home state. the dragons. These packages became Jung, a dim sum made of Exiled a second time by King Qing mochi rice which are now wrapped Xiang, Qu Yuan suffered from in lotus leaves instead of silk. failing health and depression. The act of racing to search for Qu He committed suicide on the 5th Yuan's body became the tradition day of the 5th lunar month by of Dragon Boat racing, held on the wading into the Miluo River. 5th day of the 5th lunar month - Legend has it that villagers carried the anniversary of his death. dumplings and set out in boats to This tradition of revering Qu Yuan the Miluo River to save Qu Yuan. was observed in Japan by the CALENDAR APRIL 25 3:00 pm (INTERNAL) HONCHO Spring Thanksgiving Festival & Scholarship Awards Meaning: person at the top of his or her game, boss, big shot MAY Origin: The term Honcho dates back to around 1945, as World War II was coming to an end. 2 3:00 pm (INTERNAL) American prisoners-of-war learned the word while in Tsukinami-sai Monthly Service captivity as they would hear Japanese squad leaders 30 8:00 am (CANCELED) referred to as ? ? Hancho by the soldiers. Shinto Renmei Memorial Day Service Army medic Ernest Norquist was a POW in a Japanese camp in the Philippines and kept a diary throughout his time on scraps of candy and cigarette wrappers. In a JUNE published version of his diary, frequent references were made to the "Honchos who ran the prison camp." 6 9:00 am (CANCELED) Not long after the war ended, General Eisenhower Chinowa for People & Pets himself was called the "Chief Honcho" in a 1952 Los 3:00 pm (INTERNAL) Angeles Times article. Tsukinami-sai Monthly Service Since, Honcho is used to describe someone who shows courage and leadership. Words to live by....

Since ancient times, the Japanese A rough English equivalent of is difficult.? have repeatedly used three mottai nai would be ?what a The term began as a phrase to phrases of Shinto origin in their waste.? Literally, it means ?I am express how rare it was for one to daily lives -bachi ga ataru, mottai unworthy to be a recipient of encounter a kind act, which nai and arigatai. these goods or services? and is a eventually evolved into the phrase? phrase which evolved from the I?m sure many of you have heard arigatai, arigato or thank you. Shinto concept of expressing the word bachi or the term bachi gratitude for the bounties that we The word arigatai is seen in ga ataru somewhere, sometime in receive from nature and the need ancient text, however, the word your lives. for reflection on the forces that arigato was not used to express Bachi is a variant form of batsu or sustain us. thanks until the mid-1600s. Shin-batsu which means divine The word "waste" has a negative Arigatai or expressing gratitude to retribution inflicted on someone nuance such as useless or our ancestors, parents, nature, who speaks or acts in a worthless in the English language. acquaintances, etc. is the disrespectful or unbelieving way foundation of Shinto. towards a kami. However, in Japanese "waste" expresses regret that a thing Gratitude is also said to make us In English, a similar phrase would which is still useful isn't used to its resilient to life's challenges both be ?what goes around, comes fullest potential. This can be used physiologically and around.? for people, opportunities, psychologically and Here in Hawaii, ?you?re going to situations, etc. said to strengthen get bachi? seems to sum it all interpersonal Arigatai is a form of arigato which when you?ve done something you relationships. literally means ?something which shouldn?t have. MAINTENANCE

Keeping trees and shrubs in good Omamori sighting in condition involves regular care Taiwan and pruning to help conserve a tree's energy, manage its size and change its shape. The shrine's Ficus Benjamina was pruned on 4/10 to remove dead and diseased branches, thin the canopy and maintain optimum have an impact on growth. health. However pruning dead tissues CLICTKhe leaves are the energy and and branches simply clears them food producing centers of a tree, away without impacting growth HERE We received a photo of a pruning live tissues will always and will help control the size and Yakudoshi omamori amidst shape of the canopy. sakura blossoms in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. The word omamori comes from the word mamoru ? ? or to protect. Mahalo Jill for keeping your Yakudoshi omamori with you, wherever you go.