Where ancient traditions thrive Hawaii Kotohira Jinsha Hawaii Dazaifu Tenmangu

Volume 5, Issue 2

Spring is the most glorious time of the year when the landscape Spring Thanksgiving Festival transforms into an explosion of vibrant color. Spring symbolizes birth, renewal, of life, regeneration. main shrine, Dazaifu Tenmangu, Fu- 4月19日（日）当宮では福 The shrine celebrated the annual kuoka to join in the festivities. 岡の本宮より馬場宣彦禰宜と有吉 Spring Thanksgiving Festival on President Shinken Naitoh 重行権禰宜をお迎えしての春季感 Sunday, April 19 from 3:00 pm. greeted members and guests and ex- 謝大祭が執り行われました。 Officiating the ceremony was tend the shrine’s deepest gratitude to Rev. Masa Takizawa, assisted by Rev. the many people who came together 夜半からの雨も止み境内の Naoya Shimura of Hawaii Ishizuchi to make the festival a success. 緑も一層輝きを増した中、祭典が Jinja and Rev. Akihiro Okada of Dai- A big mahalo also goes out to 厳かに斎行されました。 jingu Temple of Hawaii and Ryuji Ho- the students of the Hanayagi Dancing 直会では花柳ダンシング・ shino. Academy and Hanayagi Mitsuemi アカデミーの日舞、坂井久美子さ A miko mai was performed by sensei for coordinating their perform- Natsumi Ikeda. ance and Honolulu Fukuoka Ken- んの詩吟、ベッシー田神さんのカ Rev. Nobuhiko Baba and Rev. jinkai and its president Dr. Bertrand ラオケやマジシャン・モトさんの Shigeyukji Ariyoshi flew in from our Kobayashi for their support. マジック・ショーで賑わった。

for your generous donations MAHALO Mahalo to Axel Obara for Thomas & Linda Agawa Roy Morioka donating his talents and time Daryl Cachola Kara Muramoto to construct cabinets for the Titus Chan Ellen Nagatori shrine meeting room and Daijingu Temple of Hawaii Gary & Marlo Nakata Shinsenjo. Dazaifu Tenmangu, Fukuoka Pat & Jeanette Nakata Ryan & Michi Fitzgerald Clark & Gayle Fujihara Shinken & Marilyn Naitoh Toshiko Fujisaki Gary & Marlo Nakata Pat & Jeanette Nakata Junko Hajime Mahalo to Mike Lee (husband Hanayagi Dancing Academy Masateru & Hatsuko Nakazato Nakazato Fish Market of the late Hanayagi Mitsuaki Hawaii Foundation II) for donating his talents and Craig & Diane Nishida Bob Harada time to construct storage for the Diane Ogasawara Ryuji Hoshino shrine meeting room. Hawaii Ishizuchi Jinja Mitsunobu ＆Mihoko Ohashi Mitsuru & Pam Igarashi Kimberly Padua Kyoko Isa Rogue City Productions Robert & Jean Ishihara Kenneth & Kumiko Saiki Max Iwazaki Kumiko Sakai Izumo Taishakyo Mission Jay & Pauline Sakashita Bert Kaizuka Nobuo & Aileen Sato Yumi Kaneko Miyono Shimoda Marie Kawamoto Tetsuya Shimomura Masao Kawamura Alice Sugimoto Sachiko Kele Chester Sugimoto John & Toyoko Kluvo Sugimoto Ohana Dr. Bertrand Kobayashi The Honolulu Times Elaine Komatsu Mayumi Togashi Ernest & Chiyoko Lau James & Roberta Uesugi Carol Lee Yasuko Uyehara Gary Lee, Jr. Eiko Wong Richard & Eleanor Matsunaga Richard Yasukochi

Hawaii Kotohira Jinsha - Hawaii Dazaifu Tenmangu is a 501(C )(3) nonprofit church. All contributions are tax deductible to the fullest extent allowed by law.

MAHALO Give 5 Campaign February March April Ryuji Hoshino • Arthur Isa • Arthur MJY Isa

MAHALO Festival Volunteers Rev. Takizawa performing a car blessing on Chester Sugimoto’s new vehicle Rev. Shigeyuki Ariyoshi Kyoko Isa Travis Asato Yumi Kaneko Rev. Nobuhiko Baba Shalene Kerfoot 2009 Shrine Calendar Hanayagi Dancing Academy Marilyn Naitoh June Hawaii Foundation Shinken Naitoh ７ Pet Blessing Festival and Chinowa Ring Bob Harada Nakazato Fish Market ペット清祓いと茅の輪くぐり Ryuji Hoshino Axel Obara of Renewal Arashi Igarashi Mitsunobu Ohashi July Kai Igarashi Rev. Akihiro Okada 5 Tsukinamisai Monthly Service 月次際 Pam Igarashi Rev. Naoya Shimura August Natsumi Ikeda Daniel Song Arthur Isa Naomi Teramoto 1 Clean-up＆Prep 掃除と準備 Arthur Isa, Jr. Eiko Wong Spring Thanksgiving Festival お祭りあれこれ Kanetsugu Naoe (Tenchijin)

The shrine received an Email Kanetsugu (who at the time had inquiring as to why the character 愛 changed his name from Yoroku Higu- “ai” or love was used by Kanetsugu chi to Kagetsugu Higuchi) Naoe on his kabuto helmet in the TV became and the drama Tenchijin. inheritor of Naoe Nobutsuna's do- Kanetsugu Naoe was born main. Yoroku Higuchi in 1560, the son of Kanetsugu’s wife Osen was Higuchi Kanetoyo, a low ranking three years older then him and a of the . staunch and loyal supporter of the Kanetsugu’s father Kanetoyo Uesugi clan. Higuchi was the vassal of Masakage Kanetsugu is said to have loved Nagao, lord of Sakato Castle and her deeply and refused to take concu- brother in law of Kenshin Uesugi. bines, a practice which was expected Masakage Nagao was also the father of high ranking samurai at the time. daimyo lords of the North, Date of Kagekatsu Uesugi, who was later During and after the Otate no Masamune and Mogami Yoshiaki, adopted by Kenshin Uesugi. Ran battle, Nobunaga Oda converged successfully countered Naoe Ka- Extremely intelligent from upon 's territories netsugu and defeated him in the birth, Kanetsugu quickly became a and nearly wiped the Uesugi clan off Battle of Hasedo. high ranking vassal to two genera- the map. After the decisive Battle of tions of Uesugi lords - Kenshin and , who feared Sekigahara in 1601, which resulted Kagekatsu. that the Uesugi might go to war with in victory for the Eastern army, the In the civil war that was him, demanded that Kagekatsu stop Uesugi clan was transferred to fought between Uesugi vassals fol- increasing the size of his army. Yonezawa where Kanetsugu lowing Kenshin's death (Otate no Eventually, the Uesugi clan received a fief worth 60,000 Ran battle), Naoe Kanetsugu sup- arranged an alliance with Ishida Mit- and eventually retired. ported Uesugi Kagekatsu. sunari, one of 's Kanetsugu was well known In 1579, Kagekatsu emerged former administrators, against the To- for wearing a helmet affixed with the as the victor of the Otate no Ran. kugawa. kanji 愛 “Ai” which means love. Kanetsugu’s support and loy- In the events that led up to the The character “Ai” in this case alty to Kagekatsu Uesugi in this war, , Naoe Kanetsugu does not mean “love” but is taken would forever change his fate. moved swiftly in an attempt to jeop- from the deity of war, Atago Gon- Upon the death of Naoe No- ardize Tokugawa Ieyasu's holdings in gen. butsuna, lord of Yoita Castle, 's Kanto Province. There are also other theories Kagekatsu Uesugi ordered Nobut- After a brisk siege, he managed that suggest the character “ai” repre- suna's widow to marry Kanetsugu. to take Hataya Castle. However, two sents Aizen Myo-o, the deity who transforms wordly lust to into spiri- tual awakening. Though Kanetsugu is not as famous as many other samurai from this time, he still played an important role in supporting during the Sekigahara campaign. Today a statue of him can be found in front of the Yoita History and Folk Museum in Niigata Prefec- ture. Kanetsugu was also well read and left many poems and haiku. Kanetsugu died in in 1619 at the age of 60. It is docu- mented in the Uesugi clan annals that many samurai and peasants mourned his passing. Pet Blessing Festival & Chinowa Ring of Renewal

This year we will be combining two summer events - Pet Blessing Festival and Chinowa (Ring of Renewal) and performing them on Sunday, June 7 from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm. The format will be the same in years past, except, there will now be one large ring to accommodate both humans and pets at the annual summer blessing. Chinowa Kuguri is Japan's oldest religious tradition. For centuries, the Japa- nese have observed Chinowa Kuguri by stepping through a chinowa, a large ring made of reeds to rejuvenate the vital force that heals and energize the physical, emotional and spiritual life force for the second half of the year. The ancient chinowa ritual at the shrine is the only one to be conducted outside of Japan. As usual, the Chi- nowa ring will be spe- cially crafted with ti leaves for its cultural and historical significance to Hawaii. Reservations are not required. The event is free and open to the public.

Students from Sensei Candy Cann’s Religion class at Lee- ward Community College visited the shrine on Friday, March 20.

Students from Sensei Jay Sakashita’s Religion class at Leeward Community College visited the shrine on Tuesday, February 10.

Actors of Rogue City Productions rehearsing a take from their new movie filmed at the shrine on April 26

Read our newsletters online Ashley Atkinson of Knox College, Illinois shadowed Rev. Takizawa for two days in March as part of her www.e-shrine.org thesis in Shinto.