Winter 2024 Newsletter: Chozen-ji in the Community
The second half of 2024 was busy with events at and outside of the Dojo. Read on to learn more about our annual Zen Art Show, Chozen-ji board member Bill Kaneko being honored by the Pacific Buddhist Academy, our annual Zen & Sake fundraising dinner, and seven different outreach events hosted with groups from the community at Chozen-ji.
Zen Art Show
We had a successful art show November 1-3 featuring artworks by Chozen-ji teachers and students, books, omamori, and demonstrations in Chado and Kyudo.
To illustrate the theme of this year's sale, The Year of the Dragon, Michael Kangen Roshi wrote a 15-foot-long calligraphy of the Kanji for "Dragon" that hung in the center of the entrance to the Budo Dojo. The large scale ceramic pots made by Lynn Teruya Roshi which are on permanent display in the Budo Dojo were taken out of their display cases for the first time in decades, and became centerpieces in a massive kado illustrating their name, "Carp leaps over the waterfall and turns into a Dragon".
Pacific Buddhist Academy Honors Bill Kaneko
On November 15, Chozen-ji board member and local attorney Bill Kaneko was honored by the Pacific Buddhist Academy in their annual Lighting Our Way dinner. He was recognized for the work he has done to secure reparations for Americans of Japanese Ancestry who were forcibly displaced from their homes after the attack on Pearl Harbor that brought the US into World War II, and for his many other contributions to Hawaii.
Michael Kangen Roshi, Chozen-ji priests Cristina Moon and Geraldine Abergas, and past participants in the Zen & Politics program Bill has spearheaded at the Dojo since 2019 were in attendance.
Zen & Sake
On September 18, Chozen-ji hosted our annual fundraising dinner, Zen & Sake, at the Prince Waikiki, which is fast becoming one of the most notable such events in town. Heads of many of the leading companies in Hawaii attended, enjoying a seven-course gourmet meal by Chef Jeremy Shigekane and premiere sake pairings selected by World of Sake's Tassho Pierce.
Many mahalos to our 2024 Zen & Sake corporate sponsors: American Savings Bank, Imanaka Asato Law Company, Central Pacific Bank, Pulama Lanai, Bank of Hawaii, Tradewind Capital, Island Insurance, Islander Group, IQ360, Avalon Development, Hawaiian Host, Nordic PCL Construction, Inc., Cades Schutte, ProsPac Holdings Group, Stanford Carr Development, and AIO Group.
Dojo Outreach
The Dojo continues to grow in reputation among a new generation of local leaders. Hawaii Business Magazine ran an article in November, "Chozen-ji: Where Hawai‘i Leaders Find Courage and Calm", that included interviews with American Savings Bank President & CEO Ann Teranishi, HPM President & CEO Jason Fujimoto, and Seth Colby of the Hawaii State Tax Department about the impact of the Dojo on their approaches to leadership.
Leaders and staff of eight different local organizations also reached out to the Dojo in just the second half of 2024 to ask us to host some of their most important meetings and workshops:
On August 6, Chozen-ji Kendo student and Executive Assistant to the COO, Nalani Kaku, brought the leadership team at Kupu—a local environmental sustainability organization providing employment opportunities for youth—up to the Dojo for a leadership retreat. They were introduced to zazen and learned about our approach to Zen training and developing people through the body. They also engaged in strategic conversations in key locations on the temple grounds, including sitting on the banks of Kalihi Stream, that brought new perspectives and insights.
Chozen-ji also hosted similar events for local communications and media firm IQ360, startup founders in the Blue Startups tech accelerator, faculty of the Pacific Buddhist Academy, Central Pacific Bank employees, and a small group of 2024 Omidyar Fellows.
In October, Chozen-ji Kyudo instructor and band director Chadwick Kamei brought student leaders in the Pearl City High School Marching Band to Chozen-ji for a workshop on student leadership that included boxing basics. 2024 Zen & Politics participant and local federal public defender Minda Yamaga brought youth fellows from the Japanese American Citizens League to the Dojo for a planning meeting.
During the Dojo's Winter Break in December, past participants in all three cohorts of the Zen & Politics program (2019, 2023, and 2024) met with former Hawaii State Attorney General David Louie.