HANAPEPE — The sun was still in the sky, birds were still in song, but there was no parking. The Hanapepe Soto Zenshuji, its area brightly decorated with chochin, or paper lanterns, was teeming with people taking advantage of the
HANAPEPE — The sun was still in the sky, birds were still in song, but there was no parking.
The Hanapepe Soto Zenshuji, its area brightly decorated with chochin, or paper lanterns, was teeming with people taking advantage of the early food booth offerings before the sun set and the bon dancing started.
Bon, or obon, season is a Japanese Buddhist custom to honor the departed spirits of one’s ancestors, states a program made available to guests at the Hanapepe bon dance.
Obon is an abbreviation of urabon, the Japanese transliteration of the Sanskrit word “Ullambana” which literally means “to hang upside down,” according to the Shingon Buddhist International Institute.
The word implies the unbearable suffering that one has to bear, whether spiritual or physical, when hung upside down.
Mokuren Sonja, a disciple of Sakyamuni Buddha, used his supernatural powers to look on his mother who had died. He discovered that she had fallen into the path of hungry ghosts and was suffering, the Urabon Sutra states in its translated form.
Sonja asked the Buddha for instruction and was told to make offerings to the many priests who had just completed their summer retreat. This gesture led to his mother being saved from the path of hungry ghosts and was able to become a buddha, according to the Shingon website.
Shelly Gerardo, whose grandmother was a Japanese dance and cultural practitioner, said Buddhists believe the best way to honor the memories of the deceased is to be happy.
“Happiness from those who are living is the means of pleasing those who have gone before us,” she said in an e-mail.
The Hanapepe Soto Zenshuji bon dance marks the start of 10 bon dances celebrated at different Kaua‘i Buddhist Council churches around the island.
“The Zenshuji temple is honoring hundreds of years of religious traditions while celebrating our unique Japanese folk culture that evolved over five generations in Hawai‘i,” said Gerald Hirata, president of the Hanapepe Soto Zenshuji board. “Among the temples, there has been a cooperative effort to organize, plan and increase obon awareness. We want to ensure that what has been taught over the generations is being taught to the next generation, ensuring that our rich bon tradition lives on.”
Part of that tradition will end this year when the West Kaua‘i Hongwanji, Koloa Temple, celebrates its final bon dance Aug. 13-14. This date marks the final bon dance of the 2010 season.
Formerly the Koloa Hongwanji Mission, that church, along with the Hanapepe Hongwanji Mission, have been assimilated under the Waimea Hongwanji and are now known as the West Kaua‘i Hongwanji Mission.
Gerardo’s grandmother was affiliated with the Koloa temple and she laments the end of a tradition for the church which recently celebrated its centennial.
“When I finally started to learn the dances from my grandmother, it was already too late,” Gerardo said. “But when I go to the bon dances and dance, I can see my grandmother in my hands during the dance.”
Hirata said many of the dances came from areas of Japan where many island residents trace their roots.
“The popular ‘Tanko Bushi,’ mimicking motions from the coal mines, originated from Kyushu while the familiar ‘Asatoya Yunta’ is an anthem from Okinawa,” Hirata said, noting that the similar drumbeat in the Fukushima and Niigata ondo, or dance, are recognizable because of the two prefectures being adjacent to each other in northern Honshu.
In addition to keeping the awareness of bon alive, Hirata said the Hanapepe Soto Zenshuji started offering classes in taiko and dance for a group of men but has since opened the sessions for anyone interested.
“I became interested in bon dance drumming about three years ago,” Hirata said. “When my dad passed away, I wanted to learn bon dancing. There was no place where I could go to learn, such as enrolling in a class, workshop, or joining a club. You could learn the skills, but the methods of doing were fragmented. Essentially, it was waiting for bon season when the temples offered dance practices and honing those skills in the ring, live, during the event.”
Hirata said there are more than 50 men who have become part of this hui known as the “koi boiz” because of the happi coats they wear. A new “uniform” coat will be unveiled at a later dance this summer.
“When we were younger, people made fun of us if we danced,” Gerardo said. “But look at how things have changed. Today, there are a lot of younger children, boys, and even men.”
When the bon season ends in mid-August, the spirits are sent off in ceremonies like the toro nagashi, or floating lantern ceremony, or, as in the case at Hanapepe Soto Zenshuji, the Takiagi service where names of deceased ancestors are inscribed on special placards which are burned while ministers chant a sutra.
“We had two good nights of reuniting and fun,” the officiant bishop said. “Until next year, we will wait to reunite again.”
This weekend’s bon dance moves to the Koloa Jodo Mission where people can, for a donation, get a toro, or paper lantern, which will be set afloat during the toro nagashi at the end of the bon season.
• Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@kauaipubco.com.
