Every summer, the Gardena Buddhist Church transforms into a lively street party for the Obon Festival -- and I never miss it. The entire block shuts down for colorful Obon dancing under the glow of paper lanterns, while the air fills with the sizzling aroma of chicken and beef teriyaki. Rows of food stalls tempt you with chewy dango, fresh musubi, fluffy shaved ice, and ice-cold drinks -- the ultimate fuel for dancing the night away. This year, Labubu even showed up to hang out and dance with us, and it made the night extra fun and unforgettable. Between the music, the laughter, and the mouthwatering food, it's a joyful way to celebrate tradition and community, one bite and one dance step at a time. read more

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I have been trying to attend the services at the Pure Land Buddhist center for awhile now. Apparently the hours of operation have changed from what is posted on this page. However, I keep returning as this feels like a perfect fit...after decades of searching. So, once I gain entrance to, and attend some services and dharma classes, I will be sure to write an article. Namaste read more

The Anda-sa-gi, Okinawa Dango, or Okinawa-style donut holes are the bomb at Gardena Buddhist Temple. My friend, Kiku, enticed me to eat one. The outer layer is light and crispy while the core has a dense, pound cake-like mouthfeel. These are the best Anda-sa-gi I have had, and I've been to various Obon festivals in many other Buddhist temples. These Okinawa Dango are addictive....."Bet you can't just have one." Try to eat them warm since the bouquet released by the donut holes enhances the textural crunch and sweetness of the cake itself. I paired this with their strong, brewed iced tea which was more English Breakfast in strength and flavour than the usual bland, wussy Orange Pekoe of Lipton Tea fame. The slightly acidic, tannin bitterness of the unsweetened tea was a good offset for the sweetness and slightly oily richness in the Dango. Perhaps a better pairing is if the tea were warm to release the deep aromas from the tea itself. Life is so full of excellent things to eat......Perhaps there is Nirvana on earth when one closes one's eyes and samples excellent comestibles of delight. After hogging out on the Beef & Chicken Teriyaki (chicken is better since it is moist from being marinated) and having Kintoki (Japanese shaved ice with a "syrup" of brown Azuki beans simmered in sugar sauce with addition of sweet, creamy condensed milk), we sauntered over to the Obon dancing area and had an Elvis sighting. In fact there were four Elvises all dancing away and accentuating their movements with appropriate yells, shouts, and grunts. One Elvis sighting is amazing, but four Elvis's was miraculous. Be sure to come next year to also witness the Elvis Apparitions, but be sure to eat all the good stuff first before they run out. Deirdre, my friend, came at 7:30pm the night before on Saturday, and she left hungry.....Boo Hoo. (Hey, Bukkyo- Kai make more for Saturday since if they don't eat it all, you can still use the raw materials the next day on Sunday.) It's a real bummer when you sight Elvis on an empty stomach. read more

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Fuji Matsuri and Obon festivals are always fun. Our Obachan made kimonos and happi coats for us to wear to Obon, and we played the fishing game and dime toss (for glassware) when we were kids. Great memories... Must have eats: Okinawa DANGO! which is a deep fried big doughnut hole that's crunchy on the outside, fluffy on the inside. So addictive. We bought a plant for our mom at this year's Fuji Matsuri too. Thanks, Gardena Buddhist church! read more

Gardena Buddhist Church - DANGO!! Can't eat just one.. - Churches Near Me - Gardena, California

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I grew up coming to this church for Japanese School when i was little and the Obon Carnivals today was for the Obon Carnival always fun and good food. It's a tradition. The place is small so parking is very limited. On the sad side i've been to this church for a few funerals as well. This place will always hold memories. read more

I love me some dango! I mean, what's not to love. They're sweet and fried. It doesn't get much better! I used to come here in my high school days. My friends and I would play bingo, play little games to win fish and other small prizes, stuff our faces with tamales, teriyaki, corn, dango (of course), and shaved ice. We would also join the circular dance route and get jiggy to that taiko music. Even as an adult it's fun! This last time I didn't dance, but I regret it. I guess I'm coming back next year! read more

My husband and I got married at this church and we could not be any happier. The venue is so beautiful and doesn't need much decoration. They even have white fresh flowers in beauty Japanese vases on the altar. They accommodated our 10 AM wedding. Parking is free and plenty read more

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Visited the Gardena Buddhist Church last wkend for the Obon festival and hooooooly molies were there a lot of ppl!! We usually go to the Obon festival in Vista and I've even been to one in Japan, in a little remote farming town but this one had more ppl dancing than both those two Obon's combined. And that's what the Obon is all about right? People going back to their hometown to DANCE!! For those of you who have never been, during the dancing festivities or bon odori, people form a big circle and dance clockwise around a stage.. The circle at this obon was about a block long and had like 3 lines of circles.. They didn't play my favorite song Mottainai lol!! But maybe next year.. Despite the size of the bon odori, I was kind of surprised at how few venders there were for food.. It doesn't matter but yeah this is the biggest Obon in California, so I thought there would be more.. We had a spam masubi. Lol that's it. But there was also corn, teriyaki chicken, somen and dango!! We kind of wanted to try the dango but the line was soooooo long! Like out the temple and down the block lol Plus we went to Lil' Osaka in LA earlier in the day to have lunch and were still pretty stuffed.. Besides the dancing, we also had a lot of fun playing bingo!! $1 a card and so addicting!! While we were there the prize went all the way up to $35 per game.. We didn't really explore inside the temple too much bc there was a lot going on outside.. But they put on a great festival and I look forward to going again next year! read more

The GBC Obon marks the last festival of the season in the South Bay. It's held every year on the first weekend in August. For me, it's a tradition that I'm passing on to my kids. I've danced since I could walk and probably even before that. What I like most about these festivals is that you can just jump in whenever you like and don't have to know the dances. There are teachers in the middle and you just follow along and mimic what they're doing. It's a blast! Practices are held on Tuesdays and Thursdays for two hours inside the parking lot area. It's nice to see that the Obon is growing in numbers every year and that younger kids are joining in. For a few years, we were really small... now it's almost too crowded, but it's still fun! Not only do they dance, they have taiko players to give that extra special sound to the music. The taiko players are amazing (my cousin is one of them) and very entertaining. The sound of the taiko is so powerful and uplifting to the spirit. People come from miles away to enjoy not only the dancing, but the food. Udon made by the same sweet ladies year after year... the chili tamales or chili rice, the teriyaki booth always sells out early, the buttery corn on the cob, and we can't forget the chirashi (my favorite). They also come for the yummy dango and sometimes stand in line for over an hour waiting to get them fresh out of the fryer. There are still a few kids games to play and usually a jumper. They also have bingo to pass the time if you're not dancing, playing games, or bouncing around in the jumper :) Parking is limited... usually we have to park in the residential area and walk a few blocks. read more

Great place to enjoy Obon Festival in August. The whole block is blocked to perform the Obon Festival dancing. There was a Taiko performance prior to the dancing. Bring a lot of money to buy great traditional Japanese food such as sushi, teriyaki, spam musubi, noodles, snow cone, dango, and many other J foods. Also, games, gifts, auction, and bingo at the festival to enjoy the rest of the night. read more

Gardena Buddhist Church - Great food!! - Churches Near Me - Gardena, California

Nice O-bon here. Had a lot of food. Mostly udon and dangos but a few others like teriyaki chicken.I think this is the largest Obon dancing group I've ever seen. I hear they have 2 festival events a year. I wonder what the other is for. read more

Gardena Buddhist Church - Churches Near Me - Gardena, California

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Obon Festival : First thing you should know and be prepared for is that you'll most likely be driving in circles looking for parking. There was a small lot that was already full one hour after the festival started. They've got plenty of food options like udon, dango, sushi, shaved ice, iced coffee, corn, teriyaki. And well that's pretty much all they had here, food. Oh wait I did see maybe 3 small booths for kid games. And dancing started till 6 so we didn't want to wait that long and left. This is probably a festival better enjoyed at night. I can see it as being more lively as soon as the dancing starts and you start getting your udon noodle on. read more

Its obvious that GBC is known for Obon (not a bad thing at all!), but they are also an amazing group of people! I grew up right across the street from them, along the dance route. They always made a point of being excellent neighbours and gave every house tickets for food/games/drinks. When I was younger, I used to go to Fujimatsuri and some of the men from the church taught me how to grow momotaro (japanese tomatoes) and how to trim my bonsai trees. After yet another amazing Obon this year, I'm looking forward to the many more! GBC: You've continued to maintain your legacy of being a great part of this community! Thank you for all you do! read more

I did not grow up at this temple buy I am glad to be a part of it and thr largest Obon dance in Southern California!

What's really great is the annual Obon Festival held here every summer. Japanese Obon dancing in the street (everyone can participate and you can even go to practices weeks before the festival), dango (Japanese round donut things), tamales, udon, bingo, couple fair type games, chicken in a bag, roasted corn, popcorn...so many memories of hanging out with friends and having a good time. Definitely something to check out. read more

i only come for the obon festival. it's always a great event to meet up with friends and have some good food. however, parking for this event is unmanaged and absolutely horrendous. i'm willing to forgive that since i won money at bingo and a mug at the dime toss. ;) is it just me or is the festival getting more and more crowded every year? that dango line was worse than popular disneyland rides. i think they need to start considering line management. and to think.... the wait is all for freakin donut holes.... but very delicious donut holes they are. :) read more

you can get the service times from their website. this church was the only one in the area open the sunday after new years. nice since i haven't been here in a while. the church is beautifully decorated and the patrons are nice. the service books have english translations so you can understand the chants. the service was meaningful and not too long. plenty of parking adjacent to the church and across the street. read more