Yamanashi Kyoyukai Friendship Club

Current Newsletter: Summer 2006

YAMANASHI KYOYU KAI NEWS SUMMER 2006 SUMMER IS HERE! The Yamanashi Kyoyu Kai Board of Directors hope that you have a safe and fun summer! SCHEDULE OF EVENTS JULY 2006 OBON SERVICE AT SOTO MISSION OF HAWAII Sunday July 16, 2006 at 11:00 a.m. ADDRESS: 1708 NUUANU AVENUE PARKING IN FRONT The yearly Obon service is for all those from Yamanashi-Ken that have passed on before us. This service will be held on Sunday July 16, 2006 at 11:00 a.m. AUGUST 2006 MOCHITSUKI AT HONBUSHIN INTERNATIONAL CENTER Sunday August 6, 2006 9:00 a.m. 12:00 noon MOCHITSUKI SCHEDULE The custom of Mochitsuki does not only involve pounding and eating the prepared mochi rice cakes. Preparation for the Mochitsuki begins 2 days before the pounding begins. For those that sign up for this very educational event please help on Friday August 4, 2006 at 6:00 p.m. Without any help we will not have a successful event. THANK YOU SEPTEMBER 2006 YAMANASHI KYOYU-KAI ANNUAL PICNIC AT McCOY PAVILLION Sunday September 3, 2006 from 10:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. The annual picnic for the Yamanashi Kyoyu-Kai will be held on Sunday September 3, 2006 from 10:00 a. m. to 3:30 p.m. Please see attached sign-up forms. Lots of fun, lucky numbers and games. Please join us. We look forward to seeing all of you there! ANNOUNCEMENTS The Yamanashi Kenjin Kai (Yamanashi Kyoyu Kai) was founded in the early 1900's. The continued growth and survival of the Yamanashi Kyoyu Kai is de-pendent upon the participation of young and old alike- Please make it a point to get involved by helping out with and attending all activities. Volunteers are very important for our group to continue any planned events. MONTHLY MEETINGS Our monthly meetings are held every SECOND SUNDAY* AT 12:30 P.M. at the IZUMO TAISHAKYO MEETING ROOM (215 N. KUKUI STREET). We welcome and look forward to your participation! OBON, "BON DANCE", TOORO NAGASHI What is Obon Obon is celebrated in Japanese Buddhism to honor the departed spirits of one's ancestors. Traditionally, it is held from the 13th of July to the 15th. Significance of "Obon" and "Bon Dance" The word "Obon" is a shortened form of the legendary word Urabonne/ Urabanna (Sanskrit Ullambana). It is in the Ullambana Sutra, that Gautama Buddha instructs his disciple Mokuren on how to free his mother who had been reborn into a lower realm, by making food offerings to the sangha (beings possessing some degree of enlightenment) on the 15th day of the seventh month. This practice is the basis of the Obon ceremony in honor of one's ancestors. The disciple Mokuren did this and released his mother from this lower realm, this disciple, happy because of hits mother's release and grateful for his mother's kindness, danced with joy. From this dance of joy come Bon Odori or "Bon Dance", a time in which ancestors and their sacrifices are remembered and appreciated. The meaning of Tooro Nagashi Tooro Nagashi is a ceremony primarily done on the last evening of the Obon festival, as a way to guide the spirits of the departed back to the other world. MOCHITSUKI Mochitsuki is a New Year's tradition and literally means pounding mochi rice cakes. Mochitsuki begins a few days before with the washing and preparing of the usu (motar), kine (wooden mallet), seiro (wooden steaming frames), and mochigome (sweet glutinous rice). MOCHITSUKI SIGNIFICANCE The art of Mochitsuki was historically practiced at the end of the year by both Shinto and Buddhist religious groups. Presently, it is an art that has evolved to include many groups and considered an ethnic secular custom of the Japanese people without a religious meaning. The significance of the Mochitsuki can be found in the special value rice had in ancient Japan. Rice in ancient Japan was a food used only for special occasions and holidays and was offered as one of the first crops to the Gods. In Shinto tradition, each grain of rice symbolized a "tamashii" or human soul. There-fore, pounding the rice cakes represented a million souls. When the community pounded the rice with the kine, each person could then reflect on the Gods' blessing and reflect over the events of the previous year. So, the act of pounding and handling the rice was a self purifying or self reflective act. The Shinto priest would offer the pounded rice cakes to the Gods on behalf of the entire community.