HANAPEPE — Bon dance club members made their debut over the weekend at the West Kaua‘i Hongwanji temple in Hanapepe. The diverse club, which started practicing in January in preparation for bon season this summer, formed after a group known
HANAPEPE — Bon dance club members made their debut over the weekend at the West Kaua‘i Hongwanji temple in Hanapepe.
The diverse club, which started practicing in January in preparation for bon season this summer, formed after a group known as the Koi Boys effectively succeeded last year in getting more men to participate in the dancing component of the traditional Buddhist festival.
Alton Miyamoto, a sansei, or third generation Japanese, was troubled when he noticed that men of the nissei, or second generation, participated in the bon dance while the sansei and yonsei, or fourth generation, males simply sat on the sidelines watching their wives dance.
“It’s so good to see these men get in and dance,” said Jolene Ogle, who was waiting for the bon dance to start Friday. “They used to just sit around.”
The club had the distinction of performing the first dance last weekend before inviting the public to join. Members wore their new hand-crafted turquoise happi coats emblazoned with a modified Hokusai wave screen done by Steven Hirano at Kaua‘i Screen Prints, according to Chris Faye, a member of the dance class.
According to an account in the Karuna, the newsletter from the West Kaua‘i Hongwanji Mission, Miyamoto’s vision was to get these men together, teaching and encouraging them so they could enjoy a new understanding of their culture.
Eight West Kaua‘i Hongwanji men and four from the Lihu‘e Hongwanji — which celebrates its bon dance this weekend — asked Aiko Nakaya if she could teach the sansei men.
“My wife has been dancing at bon dances for a long time and I just used to come and hang around on the side,” said George Costa, director of the county Office of Economic Development.
Now he not only dances, but helps with the taiko drumming.
“I decided that since I’m here, I might as well get involved,” Costa said.
Starting in October 2008, Nakaya was able to get the men taught in time for the 2009 bon dance season where they entered the ring with happi coats from Japan, emblazoned with large colorful koi, or carp, on the back.
Because of the joy people received from watching these men dance and the enthusiasm from the men fueled by the people’s reactions and by being in the ring together, they became known as the “Koi Boys,” the newsletter states.
“This year, again with the help of Mrs. Nakaya, we opened it up to anyone with little or no experience in bon dance,” Miyamoto said. “You didn’t have to be a member of the church.”
Practices were held at the Hanapepe temple each Thursday from January through May, the number swelling to about 60 people from around the community, including many non-Buddhists.
During these practices, members of the original Koi Boys joined Nakaya in teaching the collection of dance fans.
“Obon is a festive, religious memorial observance, but our group is one of diversity,” Miyamoto said. “We will be dancing with joy and gratitude in our hearts and mind for our ancestors and friends who have made it possible for us to live as we do today.”
Miyamoto said the first bon dance in the United States was performed in Hawai‘i in 1910, so having the debut of the bon dance group on the centennial of bon dance in America is even more special.
This week’s bon observance moves to the Lihu‘e Hongwanji Mission in Kapaia on Friday and Saturday evenings with the food booths and country store opening at 6 p.m.
The Ryukyukoku Matsuri Daiko, Kaua‘i, a branch of the RMD Hawai‘i, is a chapter of a worldwide organization with chapters in Okinawa, Japan, Latin America and the United States.
Under the guidance of Glenda Ueunten and the field leadership of Lyle Ueunten, the RMD, translated to mean Ryukyu Kingdom Festival Drums, will perform its dynamic blend of traditional Eisa and Karate forms with contemporary influences incorporating traditional folk music and modern rock music during the intermission.
This is the first bon dance the group will be performing at for the 2010 season.
