Shingon Buddhists will celebrate their 100 years in Hawaii with public events next weekend at Neal Blaisdell Center. Events mark centennial
of Shingon BuddhistsStar-Bulletin staff
Archbishop Shodo Habukawa, director of the Koyasan Kongobuji Temple in Japan, will lead a delegation from the headquarters of the Buddhist sect. More than 1,000 people from Japan are expected for the Honolulu celebration.
Representatives from the 15 Shingon temples in Hawaii will participate in the 1 p.m. centennial commemoration service next Saturday at the Blaisdell Concert Hall.
The public is also welcome to participate in rituals and exhibitions at the Blaisdell Center Exhibition Hall next Saturday and Sept. 1.
The Kechien Kanjo ritual, usually performed only in Japan, will be under way from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday and from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sept. 1 in the Hawaii suites. In it, a person determines a connection with one of the Buddhas by dropping a pine sprig on a mandala depicting the panorama of Buddhas who have lived through history.
Local residents may re-create a famous pilgrimage for healing through the Osunafumi 88 Temples exhibit in the Pikake room. Soil was brought from each of the Shikoku island temples to allow participants to make the mini-pilgrimage. It will be open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday and from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sept. 1.
Shingon members will participate in other events, including a 6 p.m. Thursday memorial service at Blaisdell Park in Pearl City; a 2 p.m. Friday memorial service at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, Punchbowl; a 6:30 p.m. Friday memorial for past ministers at the Shingon Shu Hawaii Betsuin; and a commemoration banquet Sept. 1 at Hilton Hawaiian Village Coral Ballroom.
The centennial will also be celebrated with an exhibit of Buddhist art treasures from the Reihokan Museum at Koyasan. The "Sacred Treasure of Mount Koyasan" show will open at the Honolulu Academy of Arts Sept. 1 and continue through Nov. 10.
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