History

Excerpts from "A History of Shingon Buddhism in Hawaii" from the Department of Foreign Missions.

Kakuo Sensei's Birth and Early Work in Hawaii

Kakuo Sensei was born in Yuu-mura, Kuka County, in Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan. He became blind at the age of 20 and travelled the 88 Pilgrimage Sites of Oshima with his devout mother. He had a religious experience leading to the restoration of his sight and became devoted to Kobo Daishi.
Around 1911, Kakuo Sensei arrived in Hawaii as an immigrant and began working in the plantations at Amauma. He assisted Bishop Seki as a lay member and was very active in collecting donations and establishing a preaching facility at Hanapepe in Kauai in 1920.
​In 1922, he engaged in missionary work at Waimea Shingon Mission.
Rev. Kameyama, the second Bishop of Hawaii, praised the early achievements of Kakuo Sensei, writing that, "the story of the Mission can never be properly told without discussing his contributions and hardships both before and after the founding of the mission."

Kakuo Okimura

Return to Japan and Work in Los Angeles

Koyasan YouTube video feature Hawaii, Rev. Shutai Aoyama, and the Koyasan Los Angeles Temple.

In 1925, Kakuo Sensei returned to Japan for training. He entered Shudoin (present day Koyasan Senshu Gakuin) school on Mt. Koya, and after one year of study was employed at the Koyasan Daishi Kyokai, following which he became the abbot for a period of Chomeiji Temple (of the Omuro Branch, the 22th temple of the Oshima Pilgrimage route) in Oshima County, Yamaguchi Prefecture.
Rev. Shutai Aoyama had founded the North American Koyasan Daishi Kyokai (modern Koyasan Los Angeles Buddhist Temple) in Los Angeles, from which Mt. Koya at the time was anticipating further expansion. Based on the recommendation of Rev. Eikaku Seki after he returned to Japan to work at the Daishi Kyokai headquarters, Kakuo Sensei was appointed in 1928 to the North American Koyasan Daishi Kyokai.
Kakuo Sensei had been a student at the Shudoin monastic school at the same time as Rev. Seitsu Takahashi, who was later to become the fourth Bishop of the Koyasan Los Angeles Buddhist Temple. The meeting of the two is described in the Koyasan Buddhist Temple 1912-1962:

Spending one year at the monastery together with Rev. Okimura, Rev. Takahashi heard the calling to missionary work. When Rev. Takahashi went to Okunoin on Koyasan in late autumn in 1928, he again met Rev. Okimura. Rev. Okimura said that he was appointed as missionary to Hawaii and then he would go to Los Angeles to work at the temple there. At that particular time, he was visiting the inner sanctuary to bid farewell to Kobo Daishi. This meeting with Rev. Okimura kindled an aspiration in Rev. Takahashi to become a missionary priest.

Founding of Koboji Shingon Mission

In 1931, Rev. Kakuo Okimura returned from the US mainland and devoted himself to missionary activities at the Kalawa Dainichido on Hawaii Island. During the war, Rev. Okimura was one of many religious figures unjustly imprisoned. After the war in 1947, he founded the Koboji Shingon Mission on Kaena Lane in Honolulu.
Then Chief Priest of Koyasan Shingon Shu, Archbishop Shokai Wada, presided over the consecration ceremony when Koboji was moved to Vineyard Street location in 1952. With the ever-growing congregation, Koboji was moved to the present location on School Street in 1958. On June 29, of the same year, the Bishop Tetsuei Katoda with the assistance of all Hawaii ministers presided over the Consecration Blessing of the new temple building. 
Kakuo sensei introduced many precious treasures to Koboji, many of which are still displayed and used in services to this day.

Bishop Kakuo Okimura with a large ritual mokugyo circa 1960

Future Generations

Archbishop Esho Yagi with statues of the first three resident ministers of Koboji Shingon Mission

Following Kakuo Sensei were Bishop Eisho Okimura and Archbishop Dean Zenei Okimura. 

Archbishop Dean Zenei Okimura was Koboji's third resident minister. He was ordinaed in 1967 at Sanboin Temple by Bishop Zenko Kusanagi. He entered Koyasan University in 1976 after completing Senshu Gakuin Monasterial School. During his six years on Koyasan, he received teacher's rank and certification in tea ceremony, flower arrangement, goeika, washi, and more. He received a many awards during his lifetime to acknowledge his scholarship and ministerial work. In 2008 he received Gakushu Kanjo, the highest educational award in Shingon Buddhism, becoming the first American to finish all exams. His achievements culminated with his promotion to Gondaisojo Archbishop in November 2018. On November 30, 2018, Archbishop Dean Zenei Okimura was called home by his grandfather, his father, and Lord Kobo Daishi. He left this world at the same age as Odaishisama.

They were beloved ministers, mentors, and friends. Statues of the first three resident ministers are featured in the temple courtyard. They are often adorned with flowers and lei from members and long-time friends.