Shingon Mission Marks 100 Years

May 5, 2008

Author: Dennis Fujimoto

Source: The Garden Island/The Buddhist Channel

http://www.buddhistchannel.tv/index.php?id=65,6345,0,0,1,0

There were only 30 families in the area when the first shovels of dirt were turned. A hundred years later, families turned out to celebrate the centennial of the Waimea Shingon Mission situated at the base of a cliff in Waimea Valley.

“Little hands made the difference,” said Bishop Dean Okimura of the Shingon Mission Hawai‘i yesterday during the Waimea church’s centennial service. “Whether they moved one stone, one rock, or made sushi for the other workers, little hands made a difference, and I am grateful.”

Okimura said people today must take care of the new generation of Buddhism.

“Today marks a century from the start of this temple,” Okimura said. “One hundred years of hardships of the ministers and members.”