Japanese Buddhist Temples in Hawaii: An Illustrated Guide

Temples on the Big Island

TEMPLES ON THE BIG ISLAND 4 temples on the big island 113 the hak al au jōdo Mission was the center of the community that grew up around Hakalau Plantation. When the temple opened its Japanese school in 1904, it had fifty students, and by the time the current hall was built, there were three hundred students. In a pattern common to plantation temples, the congregation dwindled to only a few families after the demise of the sugar company in 1974. The mill is now gone, but the temple remains as a prominent reminder of how the plantation town once thrived. The windows and the entryway of the temple have scalloped Mughal arches reminiscent of the Jōdo headquarters in Honolulu, although the roof is plain and flat. The apricot flower crest of the Jōdo sect crowns the entryway, while two flanking dharma wheels symbolize the teachings. A more recent addition, the stone Buddha on the stairway, displays the hand gestures meaning “do not fear” and “the bestowal of gifts.” The windows set within the Mughal arches have Western-style curved-top glass panes. In the outer sanctuary, the surrounding colored glass windows and a chandelier are also Western elements. The inner sanctuary draws your attention with transoms curved emphatically in a M ughal style above the side corridors and the altar area. The usual side Hakalau Jōdo Mission hakalau point • hakalau, hi 96710 • : 963-6110 Established 1904 • Present building (Style 4) constructed 1936 temples on the big island 114 recesses of the main altar have sculptures of the founder Hōnen (left) and the Chinese patriarch Shan-tao (right). The locally made side recesses are striking in their simplicity and use of Mughal arches. The shallow side corridors have shelves for memorial tablets and urns in an arrangement seen in early temples. The right corridor is narrowed to make room for a door leading to the back of the temple. The front facade of the shelves on the right side is a cutout done in a creative shape combining Mughal curves with the outline of a wish-granting jewel. Framed photographs of former ministers also adorn the upper walls of the right corridor. A dragon and a phoenix float in the transom above the main image of Amida Buddha on the ornate altar shrine with a massive roof. Its doors are embellished with the sect’s crest. Two smaller Amida images with pagodas in the halos stand at the base of the main image. The Mount Sumeru platform has peonies and lions in its central band. The front altar table, often covered with brocade, is a local production. This mixture of older and newer arrangements, of local and imported furnishings, and of Mughal and Buddhist motifs is a reminder of the Western, Indian, and Japanese blending that give Buddhism in Hawai‘i its unique flavor. Hamakua Jōdo Mission honokaa point • hi 96727 • : 775-0965 Established 1896, present building (Style 2) constructed 1918 hamaku a jōdo mission was not only the first Jōdo temple in Hawai‘i, but also the first Buddhist temple built with the official sanction of a headquarters in Japan. A Nembutsu hall, which later developed into the Hilo temples on the big island 115 Hongwanji, was built earlier in 1889, b ut the Hongwanji missionary activities were not officially sanctioned until 1897. The original building at Hamakua served as a school, parsonage, and temple and was later remodeled into the kitchen and social hall that still stand to the left of the present temple. A bronze bust of Rev. Gakuō Okabe, the temple founder who arrived in 1894, si ts near the original temple overlooking the well-kept, rolling grass lawn. The present structure is an excellent example of a Style 2 traditional Japanese temple. It was built by Umekichi Tanaka, a fifty-seven-year-old immigrant who had been trained in Japan and was regarded as a skilled miya daiku, or carpenter of shrines and temples. He supervised several other carpenters and more than 270 people involved in the construction. Hamakua Jōdo Mission is set in a large open field that shows off the long, steeply curved roof of corrugated iron. This hip-and-gable roof is decorated with carved gable pendants. The roof covering the entry stairs has transverse beams carved with the sect’s crest amid clouds, and the beam ends are shaped into...