Dennis Fujimoto | The Garden Island
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On April 8 — it was known as the Vaishakha Poornima Day, according to online sources — about 2,500 years ago, in the Lumbini Garden, a gentle rain blanketed the sea of colors and fragrance in a country now known as Nepal.

This was the setting that greeted Siddhartha Gautama when he was born, and it is recreated in the hanamido, which forms the centerpiece of Hanamatsuri, or Buddha’s birth, festivities, which were hosted by the Kauai Buddhist Council in association with all the Buddhist temples on the island.

More than 100 people from all parts of the island converged at the Kauai War Memorial Convention Hall to celebrate Hanamatsuri, which is translated to mean flower festival due to the abundance of flowers blooming when the Buddha was born under the blanket of light rain.

Rev. Tomo Hojo of the West Kauai Hongwanji Mission said he was glad this year’s Hanamatsuri was taken care of by the Kapaa Hongwanji Mission, which organized the central hanamido, or small wooden shrine surrounded by flowers and containing the statue of the Buddha, as part of the day’s festivities.

“They don’t even have a minister,” Hojo said. “We try to help them out. They listen in to our service through YouTube and Zoom meetings.”

Another key artifact at the annual festive meeting is the central Buddha statue to which the ministers of participating temples offer their prayers. According to one of the festival attendees, the one used at the convention hall is being cared for by one of the temples and originally came from the Kealia temple.

“I don’t know anything about the Kealia temple,” said Gerald “Jerry” Hirata of the Kauai Soto Zen Temple, which was relocated from its original spot in the Wahiawa plantation camp. “But someone said there used to be a temple in Anahola. We need to find out more about these ‘forgotten’ temples.”

Another Hanamatsuri treat was Rev. Blayne Higa of the Kona Hongwanji Mission’s appearance to deliver the Dharma Message, the festival’s keynote address.

“It’s rare to have someone who was born and raised in Hawaii to become a minister,” said Rev. Hojo. “Rev. Higa graduated from Waiakea High School on the Big Island before receiving Tokudo ordination and Kyoshi certification from the Jodo Shinshu Hongwanji-ha in Kyoto, Japan.”

Roberta Yanagawa of the Kapaa Hongwanji Mission, which was part of the Interfaith Association of Kapaa, which formerly hosted the annual community Thanksgiving luncheon, confided that it had been a while since Hanamatsuri was held at a big gathering venue like the convention hall, and there was a good feeling about returning to these places.

In celebration, there were cultural presentations of kendo with sensei Elton Ushio and the Kauai Kendo Club, classic Japanese dance with the East Minyo Dance Club, taiko performances by Taiko Kauai, and a special koto presentation by Rose Alfiler-Paboniar, whose instrument was a gift from a Japanese instructor when she was beneficiary of the educational exchange with a Japanese sister city.

Meditation is at the heart of the Buddhist way of life, which, through a positive mind, develops love, compassion, wisdom, peace, and happiness while embracing a worldwide perspective beyond religious denominations, said a proclamation issued earlier by Mayor Derek S. K. Kawakami.

Rev. Hojo said the Kauai Buddhist Council’s next area of attention is the upcoming bon dance season, which starts on June 13 and 14 at the Waimea Shingon Mission.