Editor's Note - This is an excerpt from the May 2008 issue of the Buddhist Wheel 

Good morning everyone. This morning as you all know, we are having a Welcome Tea for our new minister the Rev. Kazunori Takahashi. The Rev. Toyokazu Hagio, our rimban is now in Kumamoto, Japan with his mother who is over 85 years old. We should be happy that this good son and husband has taken time off from a busy schedule to travels thousands of miles to see his mother. In recent months, it was Rev. Hagio’s wife, Junko, who has been looking after his mother in Kumamoto. I’m sure that Rev. Hagio cherishes and appreciates Junko even more.

Visiting one’s own parents between long intervals is common for our minister families who hail from Japan. After planting roots and beginning a family in Hawaii, a visit home is usually due to a serious illness or even death. As fellow clergy families and lay members born and raised in Hawaii, let us appreciate those who have made their lifetime commitment to be part of Hawaii’s community and sangha.

Often young ministers come here to gain ministerial experiences as overseas missionaries. Of course we really do not know if they can stay to serve the Hawaii sanghas. Those wishing to remain in Hawaii to begin a new life with family in tow are not commonplace. In due time young ministers must make timely decisions to return to Japan. Not only are there visa restrictions, there is only a brief window of time and opportunity to return and continue their vocations as ministers at their family temples. Some men may even decide to marry a daughter of a temple family that has no male heirs. This decision means they consent to take the girl’s family name with all rights, privileges and responsibilities, which come with temple-family inheritance.

Let us also remember and appreciate that unlike Americans, the so-called ‘homogeneous’ aspect of Japanese society is a culture wherein temple families have been carrying their priestly duties for hundreds of years (from father to son). The Japanese are very pragmatic, bound by family responsibilities and inheritance. As an unwritten rule of law, the nail that stands out gets pounded down.

Unlike Europe and America, a strong sense of class and place remains steadfast in Japanese society and culture. While every aspect of its society is layered, each layer has its own code of conduct strongly influenced by Confucian values and hundreds of years of feudal history. The priest class is no exception.  Elsewhere today most succeeding generations of immigrants from Europe and Asia are not subject to unbending rules of behavior and codes of conduct.

Our ancestors came to places like the Hawaiian kingdom and Brazil in South America. They believed they could get rich and return to their home villages in Japan. As reality sunk in, they realized that they weren’t going to get rich; some saved just enough to return home. Others sent for picture-brides and began raising families on this new frontier.

A new dream and legacy were born out of their toils and sacrifices. They believed hard work, no matter how ordinary, could give the next generation a better life, a niche of opportunity and happiness through education. Thus unique histories of diverse peoples living side by side would come to be known as “plantation camps.” As most Japanese lived the numbing cycle of hard work, sacrifice, temperance, respect, responsibility, loyalty to family and friends, the famous, “waste not, want not”, and too, the infamous, “ no make us shame eh!” mentality.

There is a word that perhaps characterizes what it is to be an American; that word is “individual.”  While older Americans today grew up with old-world values, the younger generations tend to have a different reference point—that is ‘me’ or ‘myself’. This emphasis may vary between generations, but as a whole, there is greater emphasis placed on “my space,” “self-expression,” “self-esteem,” “my happiness,” etc.  This emphasis on the individual person’s values over race and culture is supported by today’s grandparents often remarking, “I  guess  you  don’t have to marry in your race nowadays; after all, it comes down to a person’s character.” Let us not forget that the importance of gratitude transcends all aspects of cultural differences and generation gaps.  For all who came before us, for all that they did for us, we can only feel the deepest gratitude.

For the month of April, we Shin Buddhists celebrated the birth of Siddhartha Gotama Sakyamuni Buddha, the founder of historical Buddhism. And in the month of May we shall celebrate the birth of our doctrinal founder Shinran Shonin.  Let us take every opportunity to express our gratitude to our family, friends and teachers. Regardless of where from and when we all came, let us continue to encourage each other to become loving, caring and compassionate beings to family, friends, and strangers.

Namo Amida Butsu.

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