The author stayed at the College of Education
University of Hawaii at Manoa
as a visiting scholar from April to September 2017
and had the privilege to present his research at the end of his stay. This paper briefly introduces the presentation that he gave at the university on September 21st
2017. The research question of this study aims to discover roles that the Jodo Mission O-bon services
which is a major local activity
play in the Nikkei community in Hawaii. Phase 1 of this research
which the author conducted at Jodo Mission temples on three different islands in Hawaii
indicates that the maintenance of temples itself has become challenging due to the drastic decline in parishioner numbers
except for one temple; Lahaina Jodo Mission in Maui. He focused on Lahaina Jodo Mission in Phase 2
and learned that Japanese newcomers (recent immigrants) have played an active role in the Nikkei community.
