The Bon Odori in Lahaina during the first-generation era
I have served for over half a century as the minister at Lahaina Jōdo Mission, a Buddhist temple on the island of Maui, Hawaii, founded by the first-generation Japanese immigrants in the first year of the Taishō era (1912–1926). According to what I heard from elderly members of that generation, for the Bon dances of old in Lahaina (the former capital of the Kingdom of Hawaii), sugar company lorries would make the rounds of the farming settlements, picking people up on the lorries’ flatbeds and bringing them to the temple. After attending the Bon memorial service, everyone would share rice balls and pickled daikon radish as refreshments and dance until late into the night.
At these simple gatherings, the first-generation immigrants would reminisce about their homeland, experiencing moments of nostalgia, while also finding peace and comfort.
Today, throughout the summer months, from June through to the end of August, every weekend a Bon dance is held at one temple or another across the Hawaiian islands. The Bon dance, or bon odori, is a folk dance performed during Obon festival to honour the spirits of ancestors.
Drawn by the lively sound of the taiko drums, as you approach the circle of dancers, you will find people of all ages – young and old, Japanese-Hawaiians and people of other ethnicities alike – dressed in yukata (long cotton garment) and happi (festival jackets), each in their own way, joining in and dancing with evident joy. It is a harmonious scene filled with an indescribable sense of joy. Hawaii commemorated the 150th anniversary of Japanese immigration in February 2018. By this time the Bon dance, brought over by Japanese immigrants from their homeland, was firmly established as a summer tradition in Hawaii.
Characteristics of Bon dance in Hawaii and its evolution over time
In Japan, it is the Bon dances unique to a region – cultivated through long traditions – that are predominantly performed in that region (for example, the Fukushima Ondo in Fukushima and Ryūkyūan dances in Okinawa). Hawaii’s Japanese community, as an immigrant society, lacks such regional histories; it is a gathering point for people from all over Japan. As those who gather there share a common background from their hometowns, Bon dances in Hawaii incorporate folk songs from across the country, ranging from Hokkai Bon songs from Hokkaido in the north to Okinawa Eisa in the south. It is this very fact – that dances from all regions are performed at a single venue – that constitutes a distinctive feature of Hawaiian Bon dancing in Hawaii.
The dancers dress in yukata (summer kimono), obi (sash or belt) and geta (wooden sandals). This reflects a sense of reverence for the Bon dance as a ritual dance performed in honour of the deceased.
However, as the era of immigration recedes and a new generation has emerged, Hawaii has become the homeland for many people; naturally this has led to changes in the character of the dances. In recent years, new songs favoured by the younger generation and Western-style dance tunes have been performed, reflecting the evolution of Bon dancing in step with the changing times.
Furthermore, it is heartening to see that on each island there are various organizations – such as the Fukushima Ondo Club, the Ryūkyū Dance Club, and groups specializing in taiko drumming and folk dance – founded by the first generation, which are both preserving cultural traditions and breaking new ground, while continuing to hone the knowledge and skills of their members.
Japanese immigration to Hawaii
The first organized group of Japanese immigrants to Hawaii consisted of 153 people (although there are differing accounts of the exact number), who travelled aboard the British sailing ship Scioto in the first year of the Meiji era (1868–1912). They are known as the ‘First-Year Immigrants’ because they travelled in that year.
At that time, the sugar cane industry had reached the height of its prosperity, and as Hawaii was facing a severe labour shortage in 1885, the Meiji government concluded a trade treaty and an immigration agreement with the Hawaiian Kingdom (known as ‘government-sponsored immigration (kanyaku-imin)’). Subsequently, as times changed, the immigration system evolved through private agreements, free immigration and invited immigration. It is said that the number of people who had settled in Hawaii by the time relations between Japan and the United States were severed during the Pacific War exceeded 200,000.
The immigrants came from all over Japan, but the largest numbers were from Hiroshima, Yamaguchi, Kumamoto, Okinawa, Fukushima and Niigata Prefectures. This may have been due to the closer ties of these prefectures with the Meiji administration which was facilitating emigration at the time, but also because of economic factors and an engrained tradition of people moving away to work, particularly during the winter season. Some of the settlers could not adjust and returned to Japan, while others moved on to the US mainland, but the vast majority made Hawaii their home.
In a society with entirely different languages, customs and culture, and undertaking farm labour under the scorching sun, I imagine the hardships were beyond description. Amid these hardships, the first generation raised their children and grandchildren and persevered. A glimpse of that adversity can be seen in a verse of the ‘Hore Hore-bushi’, a song sung by sugarcane labourers.
I had always dreamt of Hawaii, Hawaii,
yet the tears I shed fall amongst the sugarcane
Shall I go to Meriken, or return to Japan
This is Hawaii, the land of deliberation
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The lights of the Bon dances went out during the war
On 7 December 1941, as soon as the Japanese Navy attacked Pearl Harbour and the Pacific War began, the ministers at each temple were arrested as enemy aliens and sent to internment camps on the US mainland. On top of this, the main temples on each island were requisitioned by the US Army, temple activities were suspended and the lights of the Bon dances were inevitably extinguished.
Their revival had to wait until after the war, when the ministers returned and temple activities resumed.
Hawaii becomes a state
In 1959 Hawaii became the 50th state of the United States and, since then, due to a significant influx of capital and population from the US mainland, the racial composition has shifted to a majority of white people, bringing about drastic changes to both society and lifestyle. As a new generation of Japanese Americans emerges, interracial marriage is increasing rapidly.
The achievements of this new generation, which has flourished on the foundations of the hard work of the first generation, are remarkable; Bon dances have become community events in which people widely participate and are now held enthusiastically across all the islands.
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Bon memorial service held on the scorched earth
The Lahaina wildfire broke out on 8 August 2023 and destroyed almost all of the city’s historic sites. This major disaster claimed over 100 lives, destroyed more than 2,200 buildings, and left countless people affected. Lahaina Jōdo-in temple, situated at Puunoa Point, also lost all of its magnificent buildings. On 3 July 2026, amidst the scorched ruins of its grounds, the temple held a Bon memorial service, Bon dances and a lantern floating ceremony to honour the spirits of all the departed. Relatives travelled from across the island, as well as from neighbouring islands and the US mainland, to attend the service. It was an unforgettable memorial observance and deeply moving to witness people shedding tears as they remembered their loved ones while watching the floating lanterns drift away.
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Another immigrant tradition
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The first-generation immigrants had deep ties to Japan; when a family member passed away, they would send commemorative photographs of the funeral to their relatives in Japan, both to inform them of the death and to express their gratitude for the kindness shown to them during the deceased’s lifetime.
While farm labourers in Hawaii typically lived in humble attire, the sight of those attending the funeral dressed in formal wear conveys the reverence with which the first-generation Japanese community regarded the passing of their own. (Today, those attending funerals in Hawaii dress casually, reflecting the changing times.)
As the first generation passed away, the new generation’s ties with their Japanese relatives grew weaker and the practice of taking photographs at funerals gradually faded away.
This photograph above was taken by Harold Nagamine, SR., who ran a photographic studio in Lahaina; he was a prominent figure who documented important events in Lahaina’s Japanese-American community over many years.
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This elongated photograph above, a sight rarely seen today, was taken with Harold’s favourite rotating camera, the Kodak Cirkut, which rotated 360 degrees via a spring mechanism. Today, one would normally only encounter this camera in a museum; however, Rick, Harold’s grandson who took over the studio, lent it to the photographer Iwane Ai in response to her long-standing dedication to her work, having met her through a connection with the Lahaina Mission. Using this precious camera, Iwane Ai has undertaken various projects unique to a panoramic camera, such as photographing the graves of first-generation immigrants across Hawaii and documenting Fukushima following the nuclear accident, tracing the connections with the Fukushima immigrants.
About the author
Hara Genshō
Minister Hara was born on 9 February Shōwa 11 (1936) at Jōgen-ji, a Jōdo-shū temple in Yamamoto, Iida City, Nagano Prefecture. He graduated from Iida Prefectural High School before attending the Department of Buddhist Studies at Taishō University, and graduating in Buddhist Studies. He served as a research assistant at the university’s Buddhist Studies Research Laboratory. In February 1963, he was appointed minister to Lahaina Mission in the Jōdo-shū Hawaii Mission District, a position he has held to this day.
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