Tom JacobsAlmost everyone one on North Shore has driven east down Haleiwa Road past Haleiwa Joe’s restaurant, past the boat harbor, past Ali’i Beach Park, and finally past a group of makai buildings just beyond the park. It looks like a church, and it is. It’s Haleiwa Jodo Mission. It’s a Buddhist temple, a place of worship also housing a pre-school, women’s and youth groups, and even a pet memorial (more on that later).
Buddhists make up 80 percent of the non-Christian population in Hawaii; eight percent of the total population. Haleiwa’s Jodo mission began as spiritual home to the North Shore’s Japanese and Chinese Buddhists working primarily at Waialua sugar plantation or in Waialua and Haleiwa Towns servicing the plantation and the iconic Haleiwa Hotel.
This week found me on the phone on a conference call with Sheri Yamauchi from the Mission’s Kyodan, or governing body, and the Mission’s spiritual leader, Reverend Ezaki. Sheri is the Kyodan’s first female president. They had emailed a history of the Mission from its origin as Haleiwa Buddhism Kyokaido (Temple) in 1903, when Reverend Muroyama rented a house in Waialua. Ten years later the church bought the Haleiwa Seaside Hotel using the second floor as the main altar with the minister’s residence and Japanese language school downstairs. Ministers came and went. Buildings were added. The Japanese ministers were interned in “concentration camps” during World War II. After the war, in 1946, a tsunami completely destroyed the Temple’s Japanese language school and the temple building itself was heavily damaged. A new school building
was built and the temple was repaired. The women’s group and a youth group were formed. Incredibly, in 1957 another tsunami destroyed the school building and damaged the temple again. More repairs and another new school building. In 1975 the congregation moved into a new temple.
In 1976 the Mission started the Toro Nagashi ceremony, floating lanterns out to sea in remembrance of loved ones, in conjunction with the OBon service and Bon Dance, all these ceremonies familiar to many North Shore residents. Reverend Ezaki came to the Mission in 1998. He and his wife, Tomomi, have two children. In 2016 Reverend Ezaki dedicated the pet memorial, a tradition imported from Japan. Beloved pets may now be honored with a name plaque, picture plaque, or figurine to be added into the memorial.
This year the O-Bon Festival will be held on July 19 and 20, with a craft fair on October 5. Other church groups include the Fujinkai (Women’s Group), YBA (Young Buddhist Association), Sunday School, and Yoshimizuko (Bell Choir).
Anyone interested or with questions may contact Reverend Ezaki at 808-637-4382.