Ceremony pays respects to early immigrants

Dozens of ministers from various Buddhist sects will gather July 20 at an interdenominational obon service to remember 289 Japanese pioneer immigrants buried in a common grave in Makiki.

The 9 a.m. service, open to the public, will be held at a cemetery on Pensacola Street, between Prospect Street and Wilder Avenue. The United Japanese Society of Hawaii hosts the annual ceremony. The service will take place at the base of a 12-foot memorial tower that marks the burial site of 289 Japanese contract laborers who were reportedly part of the wave of immigrants who worked on Hawaii’s sugar plantations in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Co-officiating will be Hawaii Buddhist Council ministers Bishop Eric Matsumoto of Honpa Hongwanji Mission of Hawaii and Bishop Kenjun Kawawata of Higashi Hongwanji Mission of Hawaii. Speakers will include Toyoei Shigeeda, consul general of Japan in Honolulu, and Clyde Matsumoto, UJSH president. Sutras will be chanted, and "gathas," or Buddhist hymns, will be sung by the Honpa Hongwanji choir. For the first time, hula will be performed before the memorial.

UJSH President Matsumoto said, "At this obon service we remember these forgotten pioneers, but we also give thanks to everyone who came before us and helped make the standard of living we enjoy today possible."

Also to be remembered at the ceremony: 16 Imperial Japanese Navy sailors and midshipmen from the 19th-century sailing-ship era who are buried in an adjoining grave site; and the "gannenmono," or 141 original Japanese immigrants who arrived in 1868. A memorial for the latter was erected in 1927 in the same section of the graveyard formerly known as Makiki Japanese Cemetery.

Honpa Hongwanji hosts obon mairi services

Honpa Hongwanji Hawaii Betsuin will continue its three days of 2013 obon mairi (memorial) services today and Sunday to honor deceased family members and reflect on the appreciation of life. Services started Friday.

Today, private family services will be held from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. The combined family service (in English) is set for 10 a.m.; 6 p.m. is the combined Hatsubon service, commemorating the first anniversary of death (in English).

On Sunday, private family services will be held from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. The combined family service (in English and Japanese) is at 10 a.m.; the combined Hatsubon service (in English and Japanese) is at 6 p.m.

No appointments will be accepted for private family services. Families should simply come when convenient at the announced times and dates, and register in the temple’s social hall, where light refreshments will be provided. Appointments for private services can be made for alternate dates by calling 536-7044. The temple is at 1727 Pali Highway.