Ancestor Veneration among Japanese-Americans in Hawaii

Ancestor Veneration among Japanese-Americans in Hawaii

by Joshin Washimi

Over one hundred and twenty years have passed since Japanese people first came to Hawaii. It seems only natural that the religious activities of their descendants should adopt a style that fits into the American cultural landscape.

Japanese Buddhist temples and churches in Hawaii are now starting to serve third-generation Japanese-Americans. For religious congregations of Japanese origin, the generational progress from the second to the third generation began to be an issue in the 1970s and 1980s; at least, this was when the average age of the members of Hawaii's Jodo Buddhist Mission began to creep upward. To clarify this trend, a survey of the Jodo Mission congregation was conducted in 1980 with the cooperation of 864 members. This survey revealed that 90.8 percent of Mission members were over 50 years old and 56 percent were over 65. One surprise that bordered on the ridiculous was that the members of the Youth Group were over 50 years old. New members were simply not joining.

The aging of the membership made it appear that third-generation Japanese-Americans next in line to carry on temple traditions were so adapted to American society, culture, and religion that they were distancing themselves from Japanese Buddhism and other religious groups of Japanese origin. It was a critical moment for Buddhist temples. Although leaders of the Jodo Mission experienced considerable insecurity, some held the opinion that measures could be devised to rejuvenate Japanese religions. This hope, however, was mainly for public consumption, and all leaders agreed in private that third-generation Japanese-Americans would not be joining the temple. Members of the congregation more frankly admitted, "It is most likely that the [third-generation] children will join Christian churches and the Buddhist temples will fade away with our generation." In this way, both mission leaders and members somewhat simplistically believed that they had reached the limits of folk-Buddhist type Buddhism--a religious system centered on reverence for one's ancestors.

Mission leaders tried to focus on the establishment of an "American Buddhism" appropriate to Hawaiian culture and society, but most members were imbued with the comfortable rhythm of temple activities dedicated to showing reverence for their ancestors. Their strong desire to maintain this status quo also functioned as an obstacle to reforms envisioned by mission leaders. Most of the many proposals suggested by leaders were rejected by boards of directors, primarily made up of members. This was the story as told mainly by mission leaders, but in interviews of members, a majority did reply that they "preferred the status quo." When painted in bold strokes, we can see a situation in which most of the second-generation members preferred to maintain the temple for ancestor veneration, while the leaders looked forward to establishing an American-style Buddhism. Although opinions differed as to the appropriate reaction, both groups agreed that a religion centered in ancestor veneration would not be carried on by the third generation. However, now that the aging trend of the second generation has peaked, an unforeseen development has occurred--an increasing number of third-generation Japanese-Americans are exhibiting faith in a type of Japanese Buddhism formed out of the folk-Buddhist/ancestor-veneration tradition.

Hawaiian-style Respect for the Dead

Several years ago around Christmas time, I heard the leaders of the Honolulu Jodo Mission Betsuin say that "More and more people are visiting the temple's repository for the ashes of the dead at Christmas." I went over to see for myself, and although some of the niches were empty, most were gaily decorated with brightly colored flower offerings. Although I did not check any other Japanese-American or public cemeteries and therefore cannot confirm this, I was left with the impression that a new practice had developed out of the custom of visiting family graves. Japanese people and Japanese-Americans generally visit family graves on the anniversary of the death of their loved ones, or during temple holidays such as the summer o-bon or Ten-Night Chanting, a Jodo ceremony in autumn that honors Amida Buddha. The only exception of which I was aware was that people had begun to visit their family graves on the American holiday of Memorial Day, when those who died in wars are remembered. But it was a fresh surprise to learn that visiting the family grave at Christmas time was also becoming customary.

I was also told that more people were visiting graves on the birthdays of the deceased, rather than on the anniversary of their death. Over one hundred and twenty years have passed since Japanese people first came to Hawaii as government-contracted immigrants. It seemed to me only natural that the religious activities of Japanese-Americans should adopt a style that fits into the American cultural landscape. This was the experience of the Jodo Mission of Hawaii Betsuin, but there are other religious groups of Japanese origin that are actively striving to secure a position in the American cultural landscape for paying respect to the deceased. One example is the lantern floating event held by Shinnyo-en at Ala Moana Beach Park on Oahu island. Lantern floating events have taken root as part of Hawaii's summer o-bon festival. Another well-known lantern floating, sponsored by the Tendai sect, takes place on the Ala Wai Canal, which divides Oahu's main urban centers of Honolulu and Waikiki Beach. Floating lantern ceremonies have been added to bon-odori dances at Jodo temples in Haleiwa, Oahu, and Lahaina, Maui, and provide a lyrical accompaniment to the summer festivities.

It is interesting to note, however, that Shinnyo-en holds its floating lantern ceremony on Memorial Day in May, that is, on the day that American society honors its ancestors, meaning that Japanese-Americans have moved the floating lantern ceremony associated with the summer o-bon festival to the day when Americans show respect for their dead. This started about seven or eight years ago and is now a well-known Ala Moana Beach event. This kind of missionary policy, aimed at naturalizing Buddhism in Hawaii, is already apparent in the activities of Rissho Kosei-kai, which holds a ceremony to honor those killed in battle on Memorial Day and a memorial service for the repose of departed spirits at Pearl Harbor on the first Sunday of December. All these activities are motivated by the common desire to give ceremonies of respect for ancestors a place in the framework of Hawaiian society and culture.

From a Survey of Third-generation Japanese-Americans

In addition to these examples, we also have a report from Rev. Yubara Narashiba of the Jodo Mission of Hawaii Betsuin saying that an increasing number of funerals is being held there. This increase is due to funeral services being requested by people other than active members, either former parishioners whose membership was dormant or Japanese-Americans who had never been members. The important thing is that these funerals act as an occasion for the third generation to enter the faith. Thus, in 2004, we attempted to get an overview of the third generation's views by carrying out a survey under the title "Customs and Faith in the Daily Life of Japanese-Americans in Hawaii." We received a total of over 400 responses to our questionnaire, of which 200 were from members of the third generation. There were 46 replies from those between 35 and 49 years old (23 percent), 97 from those between 50 and 64 (48.5 percent) and 44 from those over 65 (22 percent)--these age brackets represent those likely to be taking part in funeral services for parents or grandparents. In answer to a question (No. 26) about the most recently attended family funeral, 163 respondents replied that it was a Buddhist funeral, while only 17 replied Christian and 5 Shinto. Out of these 163 respondents, 97 (48.7 percent) noted that they had a household Buddhist altar, and 68 (34 percent) said their altar contained a Buddhist mortuary tablet, roughly indicating that about 30 percent to 50 percent of respondents belong to a family that fulfills the role of principal mourner in Buddhist funeral rites [in which a mortuary tablet commemorating a deceased family member is retained on the home Buddhist altar and given daily offerings].

Among all motives noted for joining the temple (Question No. 9, multiple answers allowed), the main ones were: (1) "reverence for ancestors," 42 respondents (21 percent); (2) "because [Buddhism] is a Japanese religion," 38 (19 percent); (3) "at the urging of my family," 35 (17 percent); (4) "at the invitation of friends or family," 17 (8.5 percent). We can say that these match the traditional motives of Japanese people for belonging to the Buddhist faith and joining a temple. Motives given for a personal faith were: (1) inner resonance with the teaching, 24 respondents (12 percent); (2) inner resonance with temple services, 14 (7 percent); (3) for help in solving problems and overcoming worries, 7 (3.5 percent), revealing a remarkable lack of interest in a purely personal faith. In addition, reasons given for visiting the temple and its cemetery (Question No. 16) were: "to visit the family grave or take part in memorial services," 149 respondents; "to take part in religious services offered by the temple," 74 respondents; and "to seek solutions to personal problems," 3 respondents. From these answers we can see the strength of a very dominant interest in visiting family graves and taking part in memorial services.

Moreover, in answer to a question (No. 23) about types of religious activities practiced, in comparison to 41 respondents who answered, "prayer and meditation," 147 noted "visiting family graves" as an important religious activity. In answer to a question about the basic meaning of a funeral (No. 27), 138 respondents answered "a religious ceremony for seeing the deceased off to the next world," while 44 answered "a socially customary ceremony of parting with the deceased." Hasn't a religious sensibility or outlook that places importance on seeing deceased loved ones off to the other world and holding services for their spirits been accepted as a part of life by third-generation Japanese-Americans? If it has, I think that if such religious practices expressing reverence for one's ancestors can be fitted into the framework of Hawaiian culture and society, they will be able to serve the religious needs, not only of third-generation Japanese-Americans, but of other Asian-Americans as well.

Joshin Washimi, Litt.D., is associate professor in the Faculty of Literature at Taisho University, Tokyo, where his teaching and research focus on Buddhism and its traditional funerary rituals in Japan. He is the author of a number of books and articles on the developments of the Jodo Mission overseas.

This article was originally published in the July-September 2007 issue of Dharma World.


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