Dharma Talks

Good morning, everyone.

How are you? You are looking good.

Today, we are observing Senshi-e combined with Seisho-ko matsuri. Senshi-e is a memorial service for past ministers who devoted themselves to propagation in Hawaii. As you know, more than 100 years have already passed since our temple has been established. During these years, 10 Bishops passed away. The 1st Bishop Gyoun Takagi passed away in 1946, the 2nd Bishop, Chosei Nunome, passed away in 1977, the 3rd Bishop, Kenpo Kinuya, passed away in 1927, the 4th Bishop, Benko Sueto, passed away in 1943, the 5th Bishop, Koin Watanabe, passed away in 1987, the 6th Bishop, Ejun Ikoma, passed away in 1947, the 7th Bishop, Kanryu Mochizuki, passed away in 1963, the 8th Bishop, Ryushin Okihara, passed away in 1986, the 9th Bishop, Kanjitsu Iijima, passed away in 1992 and the 11th Bishop, Senchu Murano, passed away in 2001 and acting Bishop, Ryue Ikoma, passed away in 1982.

There are 8 past vice-head or associate ministers of our temple who have passed away. If we include the other Nichiren temples in the State of Hawaii, 22 other Nichiren Shu ministers have passed away. In November of last year, Rev. Shoko Sakai passed away at the age of 60. He served as an associate minister of this temple from 1982 through 1985. On May 13 of this year, Rev. Kaiju Kumazawa passed away at the age of 66. He served as the head minister of Puunene Nichiren Mission in Maui for 10 years. I was so surprised and shocked by their passing.

Our past ministers made every effort to propagate our faith in Hawaii. Many of you probably have precious memories of them. I really appreciate their devotion. Our prosperity would not have been possible without them. With this memory, I chanted the Odaimoku with deep gratitude.

Let me say smoething our Seisho-ko matsuri. I mentioned that I chanted the odaimoku with deep gratitude today. That's not only for our past ministers but also for Seisho-ko. This is because I feel the same appreciation toward Seisho-ko. That we can have this beautiful temple today is because of Seisho-ko. I should say we received a huge favor from Seisho-ko. We should not forget his favor. Seisho-ko is another way of referring to Lord Kiyomasa.

Let me tell you more about it. Bishop Takagi built the first Nichiren Shu temple in Hawaii in Kapapala, Big Island of Hawaii in 1902. Even then, Bishop Takagi had hoped for a chance to build a temple in Honolulu, the capitol of Hawaii. The chance finally came in 1912, 10 years later. There existed a Shinto shrine named Kato Jinja in Honolulu at that time. It's name came from its main object of worship which was Kato Kiyomasa. Lord Kato Kiyomasa is originally enshrined at Honmyoji temple in Kumamoto. Kato Jinja became independent from Honmyoji and was renamed Kato Jinja. A branch shrine was established in Honolulu in 1911. It is recorded that a Shinto priest from Kato Jinja had sent Bishop Takagi a letter requesting to be introduced to a Buddhist priest as he wished to establish a Shinto-Buddhist joint temple in Honolulu. My guess is that Kato Shrine was having a hard time making ends meet since it had just been established. The Shinto priest may had been seeking collaboration in building such a temple. Bishop Takagi came to Honolulu to meet with the Shinto priest. Bishop Takagi declined collaborating with him because he foresaw the trouble lying ahead for the proposed plan. After discussing this matter with a few of his followers in Honolulu, Bishop Takagi concluded that it would be better for him to establish a Nichiren Shu temple on their own. This marked the beginning of this temple. Bishop Takagi's decision turned out to be correct. 100 years later, we have this beautiful temple, whereas, Kato shrine had to give up its independence and was merged into Ishizuchi Shrine in 1965.

Kato Jinja enshrined Kato Kiyomasa who was a lord of Kumamoto. He was born in 1562 and passed away in 1611. This is about 400 years ago. He rose in power as Toyotomi Hideyoshi's retainer. He was famous for engineering river improvements and building castles, developing industries and building a firm foundation of prosperity of Kumamoto. He was also a devoted follower of Nichiren Buddhism and man of justice. Many people in Kumamoto respect Seisho-ko even today. He is enshrined as a role model of faith in Nichiren Shu. When you look closely at a picture of the Kapapala temple, one can see a family crest of Seisho-ko on top of its roof. By this, we can assume that the Kapapala temple was established based on faith in Seisho-ko. There may have been many members from Kumamoto in the congregation. Kato Jinja must have arrived in Hawaii because of those people too.

Today, we move Seisho-ko's statue from his shrine to the main altar. The original shrine which housed this statute had record claiming that the eye-opening ceremony was conducted by the chief priest of Honmyoji temple in Kumamoto on September, 1912. This means that this statue is at least 100 years old. We are not sure when the statue was brought to Hawaii. But, we are sure that the statue came to Hawaii in the infancy of this temple. Since then, Seisho-ko has been enshrined here. Bishop Takagi came to Honolulu because of Seisho-ko and established this temple. If Seisho-ko were not here, we would never have such a beautiful temple today. We should not forget about this fact and must show our respect and gratitude to Seisho-ko. We still have something to learn from Seisho-ko as a role model and must keep this statue forever.

Thank you.