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Obon Houyo celebrates first Japanese laborers who came to Hawaii in 1868

Craig T. Kojima

By Craig T. Kojima

July 16, 2022

Hawaii Photos

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Incense is offered by Bishop Kenjun Kawawata of Higashi Hongwanji Mission of Hawaii, left, and Reverend Jeffrey Soga of Honpa Hongwanji Mission of Hawaii.
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Bishop Kosen Ishikawa of Jodo Mission lights a fire of welcoming light to help guide spirits to the ceremony.
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Prayers were offered before welcoming spirits of the ancestors with fire.
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Bishop Kosen Ishikawa of Jodo Mission lights a fire of welcoming light to help guide spirits to the ceremony.
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Incense was offered by Bishop Kenjun Kawawata of Higashi Hongwanji Mission of Hawaii, left, and Reverend Jeffrey Soga of Honpa Hongwanji Mission of Hawaii.
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Members of Hawaii’s Japanese community and Buddhist leaders gathered Saturday morning at Makiki Cemetery to remember the Gannenmono — the first Japanese laborers who came to live and work in Hawaii. The Obon Houyo memorial service commemorates the 136 men and five women who made the 14-day voyage from Yokohama to Hawaii in 1868 to work on sugar plantations, according to information provided at the service.

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