VOLUME 6 • ISSUE 1 • March 2026

White Way Radio’s Success

What began as an experiment on a Japanese-language station grew into a radio program bringing Jōdo Shinshū Buddhism to English-speaking listeners across Hawai‘i and beyond

BY GAIL S. TAGASHIRA MANAGING EDITOR KA LEO KĀHEA

Fifty years ago, radio stations were going through a tremendous increase in popularity when it came to talk shows and musical programming.

Stations were experimenting with niche programming — targeting small audiences with specific interests, what was called narrowcasting as opposed to broadcasting.

In Hawai‘i, at Mō‘ili‘ili Hongwanji, Reverend Thomas Okano, one of the first ministers who strongly believed that delivering the Dharma message in English would help spread Jodo Shinshu’s message to a wider audience, came up with a plan to broadcast a short, weekly, 15-minute program to nonJapanese speakers.

That project, “White Way Radio,” named after the 1973 book, “The White Way” by his father, Rev. Ryoshin Okano, has broadcast thousands of programs since April 7,1975 from a small, modest studio on the second floor above Mō’ili’ili Hongwanji’s administrative offices.

“I had a lot of help from great people who volunteered to work on the programs from the start,” Rev. Thomas Okano said, “including my father (the late Rev. Ryoshin Okano) who helped work on the project after I went to Lihue.”

Three months after White Way Radio’s debut, Rev. Thomas Okano spent the next eight years at Līhu‘e Hongwanji where he served as its resident minister as well as the overseeing minister for Kapa’a Hongwanji.

At Mō‘ili‘ili, temple members took up the mantle to serve as announcers, production coordinators and technicians particularly the late Toshimasa Tando, a dedicated member who spent 40 years piecing together polished programs.

He often spent hours on the 15-minute program — listening to the “message,” then editing or splicing tape if he heard a mistake.

“First, he would listen to the entire pre-taped minister’s talk, then he joined the announcer’s introduction to it and the end, he often stopped to retake the speech if any error occurred,” recalled Donna Higashi, Mō’ili’ili  Hongwanji board member and archivist.

“Then he listened to the entire tape after it was completed. It made for a long night.”

During those early years, Dr. David Chappell and Dr. Alfred Bloom from University of Hawai‘i Mānoa served as advisors to White Way Radio and at the time, the production process took place in Honpa Hongwanji Hawai‘i Betsuin’s recording studio alongside the Betsuin Annex.

At first, programs were recorded using reel-to-reel tapes, both the 4-inch and 7-inch sizes; followed by

8-track cassettes, then mini-cassettes, CDs and today, they can be digitally transmitted by computers using MP3 files.

In past years, a volunteer hand-delivered the recording to the now-defunct KOHO radio station on 12th Avenue in Kaimuki, where Kaimuki Bowl was once located.

Today, 50 years later, advances in technology allows Richard Oka, White Way Radio’s current technician and MHM office assistant, to transmit complete programs from his desk to the KZOO Radio (AM-1210) studio, two blocks away on the second floor of the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii (JCCH) on Beretania Street.

Since 2012, each weekly program has been posted to Mō’ili‘ili Hongwanji’s website, allowing anyone, anywhere, anytime to listen to Dharma messages on demand. Which is a good thing because KZOO’s signal is limited to O’ahu radios.

Listeners without computer access or neighbor islanders who want to hear the programs live on Saturday mornings at 7:45, can do so by downloading the KZOO mobile app to their cell phones, the same way neighbor island ministers like Rimban Kazunori Takahashi in Hilo and Rev. Tomo Hojo in West Kaua’i do today.

These days, a White Way Broadcast Team is led by Nancy Shimamoto and consists of emcees including Noriyo Morikubo, Lynn Nakata, Raymond Takiue Jr., Cynthia Ogasawara and Mrs. Shimamoto, who coordinates the message with temple program chair Lily Masuda.

Each emcee prepares an opening and closing script following a standard format, records his or her part, then forwards it to office manager Emma Kie and assistant Richard Oka.

After 50 years, the success and popularity of White Way Radio is obvious on two levels:

First, organizationally: For all of 2026, assignments for every program — from  speakers and announcers to volunteers — have all been decided, assigned, scheduled and confirmed. Mō‘ßili‘ili Hongwanji resident minister Rev. David Fujimoto contacted and confirmed each speaker for the rest of the year.

And second, every show’s sponsor, individuals who have pledged a donation of $75 per program, is set for the rest of the year.

Asked about the legacy of his success, Rev. Okano declined to take credit.

“In a way, I am one who was there was it started, but I’m not the only one who kept it going,” he said.

The countless numbers of dedicated temple members who worked every week to keep programs on the air and the generous sponsors who donated for the past half century points to White Way Radio’s success, Rev. Tatsuo Muneto said.

“It will remain as one of the most important, vital and necessary propagation programs for decades because it reaches English speakers.”