A Brief History of the Lethbridge Honpa Buddhist Temple
The Lethbridge Honpa Buddhist Temple was formed in January, 1966. The first service was held in a school in February, 1966. Reverend Leslie Kawamura was the first Reverend. Construction of the temple began in fall 1970, and the first service held while the building was under construction was January 1, 1971. The dedication was held August 1, 1971, conducted by Reverend Yutetsu Kawamura from Kauai Temple in Hawaii, with special guest minister Reverend G. Kubose of Chicago. What started with thirteen families in1966 grew to over one hundred members by1997. The stamina and enthusiasm of the founders continues to this day.
Events and highlights
O-Bon
O-Bon is celebrated at all the temples
across Canada and we suspect that they all have Bon odori. So what is different
about Lethbridge Honpa? Our Bon odori is held in the beautiful Nikka Yuko Centennial
Japanese Garden and has been every year since 1967. Temple members are joined
by visitors to the garden to enjoy the dancing. All who attend the Obon service
are given passes to the garden compliments of the temple. This gives them an
opportunity to enjoy the garden as well as enjoy the Obon dance. Tanko Bushi
(coal miners dance) has appeal in Lethbridge because coal was the first industry
in Lethbridge (the city was once called Coalbanks, Alberta). The audience joins
in Tanko Bushi as a finale.
Temple Construction
When the Lethbridge Honpa Buddhist Temple celebrated its 25th anniversary on June 30, 1991, they viewed the occasion as a milestone, a marker on where they were. We looked back on our path to see where we had been. The real issues were, what have we learned to guide us into the future? Where are we going? And how do we get there? The members looked forward to challenging, adventurous, full of fun and gratifying experiences that lay ahead. They approached the future with an open and positive Buddhist mind. This was the frame of mind when the small membership undertook to plan and build a temple.
Buddhism is pragmatic. It identifies
our needs and sets out a plan for each member to meet his or her individual
needs. The members of Lethbridge Honpa were pragmatic in identifying their present
and future temple needs. They set about making plans to meet those needs. In
1967, a year after the group formed to establish a temple, a committee was formed
to begin planning. Even though membership was less than 50, we set a minimum
goal for a temple with a seating capacity of 250. At every opportunity, committee
members visited temples to get ideas. A building fund was established and members
committed an annual contribution to the fund. When property became available,
it was purchased, even though funds to begin construction appeared to be in
the distant future. City utility services were bought because the costs were
being increased. Because the services were purchased, the city felt obligated
to put them in even though we did not have funds or plans to begin construction
in the near future. Within a few months, our membership increased with an influx
of members from the neighbor community of Coaldale who liked what they saw in
Lethbridge Honpa. This gave the building fund a boost and we had enough funds
to build a shell. The building committee was fortunate in having Mel Murakami
and Joe Mori who were experienced in the building construction industry. The
committee met at Robert Hironaka's home to plan a building. At midnight, they
had not come up with a plan. Suddenly, Mel Murakami said, "I think that we need
a mezzanine floor". He sketched plans to illustrate what he meant. Everyone
was suddenly excited, this was what we had been looking for. We worked for another
hour and we had a plan that we could take to the architect. Some minor changes,
and we had a plan to present to the general meeting of the members. It would
seat 375 comfortably. It was approved and on October, 1970, Reverend Leslie
Kawamura (presently professor of Buddhist Studies at the University of Calgary)
officially turned the first sod to start construction. "Bird Construction",
where Mel Murakami was the manager, was our builder. They were generous in their
"cost plus" basis used to build the temple. They assigned Moto Yoshihara, one
of their top foreman and a member of the Lethbridge Honpa as foreman of construction.
Members helped with the construction to reduce costs, and friends from Raymond
Buddhist Church and friends from the community came out to help. There was an
air of anticipation as the temple took form. By January 1, construction was
far enough along to hold our first service on New Years Day 1971, less than
5 years from the first meeting to form a temple.
At the 25th anniversary
of the Lethbridge Honpa Buddhist Temple, members were reminded not to sit back
and rest on their laurels. They were reminded that success leads to motivation
and that motivation leads to further success. They were encouraged to use the
success to date to motivate us to work to even greater success. As successful
as the temple construction was, at the 25th anniversary they set
a new goal to present the precious gift of the Buddha's Teachings, which have
been given to us, to all who want to hear it. A goal to share the Buddha's Teaching
with people who want to hear it is the greatest gift that we can give, and yet
one that we still retain ourselves. The members were encouraged to use the euphoria
of the 25th anniversary milestone as an opportunity to become involved
as a committed Buddhist, that is to make the temple more than just a building,
to use it to share the precious gift of the Buddha's teaching, which has brought
meaning to our lives.
In addition to regular temple functions,
our temple building is used regularly as a seniors centre, a place to learn
arts such as odori and tea ceremony. It served as a home for a kindergarten
until more permanent facilities could be constructed in conjunction with a local
school.
Projects for raising funds and fellowship
Rose Packing
Our temple had just been formed,
and we weren't too well organized, but we were approached by a local wholesaler
and offered a job of packing rose plants into packages at 5¢ per package. There
were around 17,000 plants to be packaged. Eager to raise money for the temple,
we took it on. Seniors worked during the day and working people and whole families
turned out in the evenings and weekends. The job entailed packaging the rose
plants, waxing and putting them into boxes ready for shipment to wholesale houses.
The whole job was done in about two weeks. In addition to raising funding there
was great comradeship. The following year the 'rose project' came again. After
a couple more years, we took on the job of mixing the soil and peat moss that
the plants were packed in. At first the mixing was done by hand, then using
a cement mixer, and finally we took over supplying the soil and mixed the soil
and peat moss using a manure spreader. We were asked to rent a building and
to handle the whole project. The project lasted for quite a few years. It was
great fun but it was time to move on to other projects; the wholesaler was already
finding stiff competition from other rose importers and the project died a natural
death.
Beet Thinning
This project came up during the time
when members were determined to build a temple as soon as possible and had many
projects to raise building funds. Thinning beets provided significant proceeds
for the building fund. Flo Senda remembers going to the F. Takeda and Sons Farm
in Coaldale. Mr. Takeda was surprised to see Flo asking about the jobs, even
though Flo was raised on a farm where sugar beets were grown. Thinning beets
was a new experience for Flo. She remembers Mrs. T. Chaki, who is more than
20 years her senior, helping with her row as well as other slower thinners like
Robert Hironaka (later Chancellor of the University of Lethbridge!). We thinned
beets on the Tom Kariatsumari farm at Picture Butte and Uri Urano Farm in Sunnyside.
The young and old came out to do their bit. It was hard work but their was a
lot of fellowship that eased the pain of sore backs and muscles. In the end
there was the cheque that increased our building fund and we were a little closer
to constructing the temple that we needed.
Baby Carrots
A local garden enthusiast had grown
several acres of carrots to supply the local baby carrot market. He needed someone
to do the cutting and would temple members be willing to take on the job? The
members rolled up their sleeves and pitched in. We tackled a mountain of carrots
and got the job done. We did not get paid for a while and when we enquired,
we learned that the carrots could not be sold. They had been washed and frozen
but no one was willing to buy the carrots. However, we did get paid and the
money went to good use in the temple.
Movie Stand-ins
We had volunteered for many tasks
but never to make a movie. But as the issei would say "O-tera no tame ni sakai
ni", or "For the temple". We were a bit timid about being in film but about
forty young, and not so young, ventured forward early October 10, (Thanksgiving
Day) to the location in the country where the film was to be shot. We had our
autograph books and cameras in hand, just in case we had a chance to meet some
movie star. Southern Alberta has provided the background for several movies.
The American film Company, Cinema Star Production chose the environs of Lethbridge
to shoot "Pure Escape" and one scene required Japanese to portray migration
from the coastal area in 1942. The Honpa Buddhist Temple was asked for volunteers
of all ages to be part of a convoy of Japanese driving with what belongings
they could pile on their car as they left their homes on the coast to move to
camps in the interior. The main actors were James Garner, Billie Dee Williams,
and Canadian actress Dixie Seatle. The story has James Garner steal a prize
bull from Garner's arch enemy, but when the sale of the bull is botched, they
must escape. The scene that we were involved in was a portion of the escape
when Garner is being pursued down a country road. The police nearly catch up
with him but he slides into the convoy of cars being escorted by the military.
Dust flies as the military stop the pursuing police and allow the convoy of
cars carrying the Honpa Buddhist Temple members to proceed and allowing James
Garner and Dixie Seatle to escape again. Once we were on the scene, we were
given clothes of the era including horn rimmed glasses. For some of us who were
chosen to be drivers, it was an opportunity to drive an antique car. Our role
was to ride in these vehicles and look sad, after all we had just been uprooted
from our homes and evacuated for some place in the interior to a location and
life of great uncertainty. Movie makers shoot the same scene over and over.
About the time that it was getting monotonous driving forward about half a kilometer
then backing up to repeat the scene, we were called inside to the mobile cookshack
that opened to a long table. We were served a delicious Thanksgiving dinner
complete with pumpkin pie, fresh fruit and all the trimmings. As soon as we
had finished our dinner, we started to look for the famous actors to get their
autographs. We asked a crew member who pointed to a bearded man wearing a heavy
dark coat and hat pulled over his eyes ..... could this be the Jim Rockford
of the 'Rockford Files'? We hesitantly asked for his autograph .... "It's going
to cost you" he said gruffly. Our faces must have shown our shock; then his
famous grin came through and he said "just kidding". He signed all of our autograph
books. In addition we got autographs from Billie Dee Williams along with that
of his petite and pretty wife, Teruko. Then it was back to work, a few more
takes, and we were finished. We returned home tired but happy with good memories.
We were paid for being in the film. We had fun, we had fellowship and our 'Otera
no tame' was accomplished.
Chow Mein Supper
A fundraiser was needed to help our
treasury that began at zero when the temple was started in 1966. A year later
we talked about a chow mein supper but we had no venue, although at least we
had the necessary experience in organizing and cooking. A hall that would seat
about 200 was found. We could use the kitchen on Friday until about 5 pm. The
hall was small and not well-equipped to prepare chow mein and rice, but the
members were determined to make it successful. Vegetables were washed and cut
up at home and brought to the hall for cooking. Part of the rice was cooked
in the hall and part in a home. We had a running shuttle to deliver the rice
as it was cooked. Everyone pitched in to help... the men had to do their part...
a tradition that has continued in Lethbridge Honpa (if you have the pleasure
of attending a Chow Mein Supper, you will see them in the kitchen wearing hairnets,
stirring pots and running errands under the command of the cooks). We prepared
about 800 servings, between those who ate at tables in the hall and those who
prefer 'take-outs'. With the success of the 1967 Chow Mein Supper, it has become
an annual affair, one that regular patrons look forward to attending each year.
With construction of the temple in 1971, with a large kitchen and a great deal
of mechanization, the annual event attracts in excess of 1600 patrons (and in
fact must be limited each year). Members, friends and relatives, many of whom
are not members of the temple come to help with the Chow Mein Supper because
it has become a well-known social event in Lethbridge. It has been a focus that
we have also used to tell people about Buddhism, which may be a greater contribution
than the financial success that is has been.
Alberta Buddhist Conference
A successful conference was held in Banff in 1979 to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the introduction of Jodo Shin Shu to Canada. There was a need to bring Jodo Shin Shu members together on a regular basis in a project that all could support. We needed to bring people with different views together for the good of all. The Alberta Buddhist Conference was the result. The conference used the facilities of the two Lethbridge temples and a local hotel. The objectives were to: 1) hold a seminar to increase an awareness of the how Buddhist teachings can help in our daily life, and 2) hold a social to honour pioneers of Buddhism in Alberta. An ad hoc committee with representation from the two Lethbridge temples, Raymond and Calgary organized the first few conferences. Members from Taber, Rosemary and Coaldale in addition to the original 4 temples participate in the annual conference.
Each year there have been two guest
speakers, one English speaking and one Japanese speaking. The speakers are a
'who's who' of Buddhists in North America... ministers, professors, teachers,
lay leaders. All have presented a stimulating message. About 225 attended the
first conference. Numbers gradually declined until the conference was held in
Calgary when attendance reached near 200. The conference then moved to Taber
and attendance was over 200. The Alberta Buddhist Conference has filled a need
to bring outstanding speakers to southern Alberta to help spread the Buddha
Dharma and to increase the awareness of committed Buddhists to its beauty and
value.
Chairpersons of Lethbridge Honpa Buddhist Temple
Yaichi KITAGAWA. 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971.
Gene TANAKA. 1972.
Kinji TAKEDA. 1973, 1974, 1978, 1979, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991.
Robert HIRONAKA. 1975, 1976, 1977, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985.
John KANASHIRO. 1980, 1981.
Katie KOYATA. 1986, 1987.
Harumi FUJITA. 1992, 1993.
Gaye TAKAO. 1994, 1995.
Pat SASSA. 1996, 1997.
Harumi FUJITA and Pat SASSA. 1999
Sylvia OISHI. 2000
Ministers of Lethbridge Honpa Buddhist Temple
Reverend Leslie KAWAMURA. January 1966-1972.
Reverend James BURKEY. 1972-1976.
Reverend Nobuyuki KASAGI. 1972-1976.
Reverend Yutetsu KAWAMURA. 1975-1982.
Reverend June KING. 1975-1982.
Reverend Hoshin OKADA. 1982-1988.
Reverend Y. MIYAKAWA. 1982-1985.
Reverend Eisho AOKI. 1988-96.
Reverend Shigenobu WATANABE. 1991-1994.
Reverend Masanobu NISHIAKI. 1994-
Reverend Michael HAYASHI. 1998-2001. Transferred to Kamloops, B.C.
Reverend Nariyuki HATTORI
Reverend Yasuo IZUMI , 2003- (photo),
