Landmark Celebration

The Moiliili Hongwanji marks 100 years with several days of events

When the congregation of Moiliili Hongwanji Mission celebrates its centennial next weekend, it will look back to the days when the Buddhist temple was a center of community and social activities as well as spiritual practice.

Centennial Events The Moiliili Hongwanji Mission's 100th anniversary will be celebrated with several events. Reservations can be made by calling the temple office, 949-1659. » Next Saturday, 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. "Seeds for the Future" will be the topic of a seminar led by Ryo Michael Imamura, professor at Evergreen State College in Olympia, Wash. The $10 cost includes lunch. » Sunday, Feb. 26, 9 a.m. Imamura will be the speaker at a Spring Equinox Service. The time capsule buried when the current temple was built will be opened and displayed. The 10:45 a.m. Japanese-language service will feature the Rev. Koho Takata, executive secretary of the Honpa Hongwanji Betsuin Hawaii, as guest speaker. » March 18, 7:30 to 10:30 p.m. A youth dance for college and high school students will be held at Kapiolani Community College. Tickets are $3 in advance, $5 at the door. » March 25, 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. The Centennial Cultural Event will begin with traditional Japanese games, crafts and sushi making. Food concessions will open and a magic show for children by Harvey "Mr. O" Ouchi will begin at 12:30 p.m. » March 26, 9 a.m. The Centennial Commemoration Service will feature a Hawaiian theme besides the Buddhist liturgy. Chanter Lehua Matsuoka will open and close the service with an oli composed for the event. The Buddhist Women's Association is creating altar cloths in a Hawaiian quilt design. An 11:30 a.m. Centennial Banquet at the Japanese Cultural Center will follow the service. » May 21, 9 a.m. Temple members who are 80 or older will be honored at the Centennial Keirokai.

The building at 902 University Ave., with its pagoda spire and wide staircase, is a landmark in the area now packed with low-rise apartment buildings and small businesses. Built in 1960, it's the third structure for the Jodo Shin Buddhist mission founded to serve Japanese immigrants who settled in the area when they moved from plantation jobs to open their own small businesses in the city.

The Rev. Eric Matsumoto said the anniversary is also a time to look ahead. In these days when there is a renewed interest in the religion, "we want to be a place to welcome new people who would like to come," he said.

College students and young adults are now offered an alternative to the traditional Sunday service, with evening religious study classes and fellowship activities, Matsumoto said. The Kona native, minister since 2003, said that after the anniversary focus on refurbishing the place, "we will be planning more concrete programs for the future."

The mission's preschool, in operation for 40 years, has 100 youngsters, both non-Buddhists and Buddhists.

Although the younger generations of the founding families moved away, "there's still a strong connection," Matsumoto said. "When grandpa or mother dies, this is where they want the funeral." The annual bon dance staged on the grounds of the neighboring Moiliili Community Center always draws a crowd.

The best-known legacy of Moiliili Hongwanji is Project Dana, which grew from a small program to help housebound frail seniors or disabled people into an interfaith coalition of 30 temples and churches in the state.

Volunteers visit the housebound, provide rides to medical appointments and help with grocery shopping and light housekeeping. They offer respite for caregivers and home safety assessments, and hold religious services at nursing homes and an adult day-care center. The program was started in 1989. Its volunteer administrator, Rose Nakamura, was among community caregivers honored Thursday in a resolution passed by the state House of Representatives.

The festivities next weekend are open to the extended family of descendants of the founding members. The Sunday service will celebrate the spring equinox. "In the Japanese Buddhist tradition, this is the time of year when nature is seen as being in perfect balance," Matsumoto said. "The climate is mild; days and nights are of equal length.

"It is an opportunity for Buddhists to gather with the idea of getting harmony and balance in our life."