Divine wisdom

JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARBULLETIN.COM
Yesterday's Education Blessing Festival at Hawaii Dazaifu Tenmangu was a ritual for people of all ages -- students, teachers and others -- who wish to succeed in educational endeavors. On the steps of the Dazaifu Shrine, the only one of its kind outside of Japan able to perform education blessings, Chris Lum of Honolulu was blessed with shakes of bells over the head by Mitsunobu Ohashi. Lum will be taking a board exam soon.

JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARBULLETIN.COM
Mitsunobu Ohashi, right, watched affectionately as 8-year-old Taylor Suzuki pulled on the roped bell, or "misuzu." Bells, which play a significant part in the education blessings at the Dazaifu Shrine, are to summon deities and gods to watch over the blessed ones.

JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARBULLETIN.COM
Prior to being blessed, 4-year-old Kailee Kobashigawa, with her mother, Noe, and brother Jordan, 1, put money into a wooden box at the entrance of the shrine.

JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARBULLETIN.COM
Hiroshi Yamaji, one of the priests performing the traditional Shinto Education Blessings, had a quiet moment outside the Dazaifu Tenmangu Shrine, where the blessings were performed. The Hawaii Dazaifu Tenmangu is the only shrine outside of Japan where educational blessings can be done.