Rev. Blayne Higa

Mourning for America

VOLUME 5 • ISSUE 4 • December 2025 MINISTER’S MESSAGE Mourning for America BY REVEREND BLAYNE HIGA KONA HONGWANJI MISSION Editor’s Note: The following Dharma message was delivered at Kona Hongwanji Mission on Sept. 14, 2025, after the assassination of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk in Orem, Utah. This morning I...

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Līhu’e Hongwanji’s 125th Anniversary service. Courtesy of Dennis Fujimoto/The Garden Island

Līhu’e Hongwanji: A Journey of Nembutsu Remembered and Renewed

Photo courtesy of Dennis Fujimoto/The Garden Island Members and guests at Līhu’e Hongwanji’s 125th Anniversary celebration attended an opening service on Nov. 2, officiated by Bishop Toshiyuki Umitani, center. Rev. Tomo Hojo of West Kauaʻi Hongwanji, seated at left, and Līhu’eʻs resident minister Rev. Shawn Yagi, also presided. VOLUME 5...

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view of Choralfest 2025 from the back of the Hondo

Choralfest Returns After a Seven-Year Hiatus

Courtesy of Irene Nohara Choral master Nola Nahulu, center, directed altos, left; tenors and basses, center, and sopranos, right, in six gathas before an appreciative crowd at Honpa Hongwanji Hawaiʻi Betsuin. VOLUME 5 • ISSUE 4 • December 2025 Choralfest Returns After a Seven-Year Hiatus A hundred singers took part...

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Ministeres and officials gathered with compassion at Wailuku Hongwanji

Resilience and Hope Lives On in Lahaina

Photo courtesy of Carol Yamamura Gathered with compassion at Wailuku Hongwanji, from left: Rev. Kerry Kiyohara of Makawao Hongwanji, Maui Mayor Richard Bissen, Bishop Toshiyuki Umitani, Rev. Shinkai Murakami of Wailuku Hongwanji, Rev. Gensho Hara of Lahaina Jodo Mission, Lahainaluna High School principal Richard Carosso, State Senator Troy Hashimoto and...

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Ms. Sadae Kasoka speaks at Hawaii Betsuin on 8/14/25

80 Years Later, Hiroshima’s Horror Still Haunts the World

Photo courtesy of Irene Nohara Hiroshima atomic bomb survivor Sadae Kasaoka, right, addressed those gathered at Honpa Hongwanji Hawai’i Betsuin, assisted by translator Mayumi Miyahara, left, and Ai Nishimoto of the Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation. VOLUME 5 • ISSUE 3 • September 2025 80 Years Later, Hiroshima’s Horror Still Haunts...

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