[HANDICAP ACCESSIBILITY] If I have recommended this temple…read morefor their bon dance in the past because of the great handicap parking and you were affected by it this year I am deeply sorry. This year they took away the handicap parking and made all of the front stalls for the workers and volunteers to park including the marked handicap parking stall. The minister when asked if non handicaps would be parked in the handicap stall he stated yes. When asked what about people who come on their own since I have recommend to fellow disabled people that drive themselves the minister stated he had to ask the bon dance committee. No matter how unpopular this makes me within the Japanese community this is the truth. The main tenant of Buddhism is compassion. Think about that. [TO YELP] I posted this on the church page and not the event page because this review in the end is a comment/review about the Minister and those that run the temple.

Yelp 100 Challenge #60/100…read more This review is for the Bon Dance. I honestly have never been to this Bon Dance before so I was excited to check it out. Went there on Saturday around 6:00 pm. Parking was getting full at the school and I was lucky to find some street parking a little down the ways. After we parked the fam headed to the bon dance. Once there I saw a bunch of chairs and pews to sit on. We brought our chairs just in case too. Then I headed to the Shimazu shave ice stand. They had I believe all or most of their flavors that is usually at the store. It was $4.00 for a bowl and an add on like condensed milk, haupia, li hing, mochi, or azuki was $.75. Come to think of it I ordered mine with azuki beans and didn't get it with my order. Oh well. But the shave was great and refreshing and we got one later after we were taking a break from dancing. The line moved quickly and there was hardly a wait. Then there was andagi which was good as they had something called poto-gi andagi which was a portuguese sausage wrapped in the andagi batter for $1.00. It was a small sized sausage and tasted pretty good. Almost like a small version of a KC waffle dog. I did like the andagi which was very hot and fresh. It was $1.50 for either 3 original or cinnamon and sugar. I tried the cinnamon/sugar and it tasted good. I would get that again in the future. They had a system to order food. It was in rec sized area which was pretty big and there were seats and tables in there too. I walked up to look at the menu and someone was there to take my order. This is pretty organized. I had the beef curry rice and spam musubi. I then got an order slip and paid inside. Two ladies rang me up and pointed to an area to pickup my food and gave me an order number. I then got my order about 1 minute later. Did I say this was very organized. The beef curry was okay, but I didn't try the musubi so I can't comment on that. The Mrs. tried the nishime and said that the vegetables weren't washed good or something and it tasted nasty. I was bummed for her as I read someone had the nishime and liked it. The Bon Dance was great as it wasn't that crowded and I loved the live performances. They had a troupe of older obachan's singing and then a little girl with musical Japanese instruments in the background. Then midway in the Bon Dance the Okinawan drum troupe showed up and they were great as well with tons of energy as always. Overall this Bon Dance was great and I loved it. I will definitely be coming back to this one. Great job to the HIgashi Hongwanji Mission! See you again and Aloha!

While the shuttle from Sacred Hearts was a nice idea I hope you actually read this review and work…read moreon it. [HANDICAP ACCESSIBILITY] While the idea of having off site parking and shuttling people is a nice idea but at the same time taking away the handicap parking that use to be at the temple is not. The parking formerly set aside for handicap parking was even empty. If you are handicap and plan to take the shuttle bring a chair. The drop off area for the shuttle is at the steps of the temple is great, don't change this. [SHUTTLE SERVICE] Learn from this year and get a 2nd shuttle. Actually saw a group of people who were in line get into an Uber and they were ahead of me. [TO THE TEMPLE, SUGGESTIONS ON HOW TO IMPROVE THE SHUTTLE SERVICE] + Set up chairs for handicap / disabled people at the shuttle pick up area. + Get a 2nd shuttle. + If cost is a factor set up a donation box in the shuttle for it. [YELP] While this review may mainly focus on the bon dance event to me how a temple runs their event is a direct reflection of themselves.

We went to the bon dance at Palolo Hongwanji last night and it was great. A few weeks ago we tried…read moreto go to the big Moilili bon dance but we couldn't find any parking. There was parking at UH but we would have to catch a shuttle and that wasn't gonna work. We just wanted to check it out and then leave when done. Anyways my daughter was pretty upset that we didn't get to bon dance so I looked up more dates that they were having bon dance. And I found one at Palolo Hongwanji. Works out perfect because my parents live in Palolo so we didn't have to worry about parking at all. They just dropped us off and picked us up. This bon dance was a welcome surprise. We went to the Moilili one a few years ago and it's too commercialized. There's food trucks and different vendors selling things. This bon dance helped me remember what it was like when I was a kid. We used to go to the bon dance in Pearl City. There weren't any food trucks and instead it was just Japanese culture all around. That's how it felt at the Palolo bon dance. From the moment you walk in, they're selling Japanese food, Japanese crafts, etc. It is a small bon dance but I enjoyed it because it didn't have all the fluff some other ones have. The food there was very cheap and quite affordable. We got three andagis for $1. And because it was so cheap we got to try a variety of items. My favorite was the garlic fried rice. My husband liked the yakisoba. We also had chili, Curry rice, yakitori sticks, and inari sushi. We didn't know any of the dances but I went out with my daughter to just have her try. All of us had a fun evening and we are glad that we came to this bon dance. We are already making plans to come again next year.

The Koganji Temple Bon Dance is a massive two day event held annually on Koganji Temple's 1.7 acre…read moreManoa property. The dance itself is held in the center of the property with food tents setup around the perimeter and the bake sale indoors in one of the nearby buildings. This event and location are huge. Kind of amazing that such a big property can hide so well in Manoa, must be the hiding in those Manoa rains. Koganji has so many food options! Hamburgers, corn, kimono dogs (andagi corndogs), kimono puppies, andagi in multiple forms, fried yakisoba, beef katsu donburi, spam musubi, the list of food goes on and on and on in addition to a large bake sale selling everything from cookies to jam. Sales are script base and prices are somewhat higher than other bon dances. My sister and I shared the fried yakisoba noodle, a hamburger, andagi, and katsu beef donburi. The noodles weren't anything special, but the burger was perfectly cooked with a crispy piece of fresh lettuce, which is a nice change for a bon dance burger. The andagi was crispy and tasty, but one wasn't exactly andagi shaped, but that's okay. (You should see some of the shapes that come out of Punahou's carnival malasada booth, aka NSFW, so these are excused). The Katsu beef donburi was surprisingly good. I went for it because I've never seen it at bon dance and to be honest, I'm getting bored with bon dance food. The fried and battered beef was tender and tasty, with pickled cabbage, corn and a seemingly vegetarian Japanese version of a Gau Gee. We spent about $20 with bottled water. Unlike other bon dances, lots of chairs and benches are provided, both indoors in the bake sale area and surrounding the bon dance itself. Unfortunately, many of them are wet, because, well it's Manoa. Suck it up buttercup, if you wanted dry, you would have gone to the Waialua Hongwanji Bon Dance. The number of dancers seemed fewer than other dances, but that might be due to the limited dancing area. I do enjoy how the lanterns are all sorts of colors, giving the dance an almost carnival like feel. Parking is a mess as there's virtually no parking on site, forcing people to brave the cold and unforgiving mean streets of Manoa for parking. Oh wait, I'm talking about Manoa, so replace all of those adjectives with "wet." Lots of people end up parking at the public Manoa Park and making the short walk over. My sister and I were amazed there were so many people with such bad parking. Maybe it's just lots of Manoa residents walking from home? Bring cash and a jacket/umbrella as its Manoa and it rains.

WOW i've driven up…read moreand down oahu have many a time, and have never ever seen a japanese temple, so when is saw that there was an obon festival in manoa on oahu ave, i was a bit skeptical. then i saw the commercial on kiku - stunning... but was it just a picture of an obon elsewhere in japan? we met a sales person at pier one that day who was telling us that she really wanted to go to the obon festival in manoa tonight because they have the most beautiful lanterns there...really? now i'm really interested. so we drive down oahu avenue, and if not for the policemen standing on the street, and the pedestrians walking in, you would never now the temple was here because all you see from the street is a sign, and driveway. but as you walk down the driveway, you begin to see the most beautifully glowing lanterns down below you. what a surreal setting. a beautiful temple nestled in the slopey hill and the obon set up below. the gardens and ponds were beautiful. we totally want to go back to check it out in the daylight. so reminiscent of something you'd see in kyoto. if the beautiful lanterns aren't enough to persuade you to go, here's a few more: 1) teriyaki corn, freshly grilled on the hibachi 2) andagi 3) curry croquettes all, extremely delicous! it is extremely crowded, or at least it feels that way because the space is small, you do have to wait a while in lines to get your food, and the parking situation is bad, but it was totally worth it, and we're coming back next year. hey, you can always take uncle frank's limo (aka the bus) -the #5 bus stops right in front.

New year...new location…read more.. Ever since I can remember we've come to the temple to start our new year with humble and the calm of visiting the temple along with the fireworks that's been the tradition here in Hawai'i though this year I did have different plans as I took the kindness of Yelp friends of Suri S and Steve S to view the fireworks along with dinner and a lovely evening planned. With that going the morning after since I had the day off I decided not to slack off and still visit the temple for blessing only to see that there wasn't the priest as many flocked over and gave their donations and dropped off the old omamori ring the bell and made their prayers on their own was something that I didn't expect. Parking is the biggest issues here is the reason that I don't usually come here as there is a drop off area and you park at Farrington but since we did have a disable parking I was able to bring mom and do a quick glance around which was really nice. There were two area to do your prayers while the nearby building held the other various options to have a sip of sake, various omamori with description for each amulet and what it represents is a great detail for those that needs further representation was quite impressive. Mom enjoyed herself and was delighted of this location as it has restrooms as well as we start 2025 with a positive vibe and at peace for the visit. Thank you!

I just love the energy and smiles as locals and visitors from afar flock to this Shinto shrine…read more 2023 ushered in the Year of the Water Rabbit and people come during the pre-sale period starting the day after Christmas to get the best selections of Shinto good luck charms (omamori). 2024 brings us the Year of the Wood Dragon and all of the auspicious opportunities that this year brings!

This is a review for the bon dance on Saturday, July 2, 2011…read more Parking wise there were 3 parking lots at stores nearby that people were authorized to park at. So get choke parking if you know where to park. Also be prepared for a slight walk. So my tip is to call ahead of time to ask where you are able to park. Food wise. The Curry Rice was super ono. When I first looked I was wondering where was the beef, but when I stirred it then you could see it had a lot of shredded meat. The sauce itself was light but full of flavor. So 5 stars in itself. Another winner was the Nishime and Rice. The nishime was nice and tender, while the sauce was light not overpowering the vegetables flavors. Music wise. Live music was provided by Iwakuni Odori Aikoki and Hawaii Eisa Shinnyukai.

Very peaceful and tranquil. If you don't feel Closer to your…read moreancestors when visiting here than something is wrong with you. Get your fortune read and make sure you donate. It's a great cause.

Zen! Even in Japan…read moretemples are placed in the midst of life as if it's a sign for you to come in and take a moment for yourself, Juan Yin Temple is no different as it's right in the midst of busy Vineyard Boulevard right beside Foster Botanical Garden. Here I did come for a specific reason...their stunning water lily flowers which they have two pots of and it's constantly growing and on other visits there were just buds so instead took in the view and enjoy this lovely gem. Today on the eve of the upcoming Lunar New Year I made a bangle I designed back in November that I had made for some friends for the New Years and it's a infinity blended into a lotus flower, one of my favorite since it represents so much to me. The symbolism of the Lotus is spectacular and making my bangle had the same issues of forming it with struggles with the vision to have the colors only for it to be altered with then end result of something still beautiful. Yes I took several pictures respectfully as this temple is free to the public to pray, offer incense or just take a moment. I'm just so grateful for their generosity to their open doors I do constantly make an offering and give thanks, it's another humbling experience and timing to capture what I've been searching and am feeling so blessed. Thank you and a Happy Lunar New Year!

If you'd like to know more about the Shinnyo-en order in general, please see my Yelp review for the…read moreShinnyo-en main temple in Honolulu. The OTC is in the same area as the Pearl City Longs. It's a lot smaller than and not as "fancy" as the main temple. However, it's great for those that live on this side of the island. There is no dedicated parking lot but parking is usually easy to find during service hours and it's still free. While there are also lockers here like the main temple, you do not have to take off your shoes/wear socks (still, it's best to not wear any ridiculously dirty or muddy shoes!) There's only one bathroom (a single person one) but, of course, it's very clean and it has a rail for those in wheelchairs to use and also a changing table for babies. Be sure to check what services are at the OTC because they may differ from the main temple. My dad and I usually come here for special weekday evening services.

Please don't have the lady who was collecting money and calling out orders in line #4 do that…read moreagain, she was too timid. She would call for one item, wait til it came and then call for the next item. Then each time she would ask me what else and each time i told her chili. And then when she did call chili someone else collecting money and calling orders in a different line was going to take it because she was so soft. By the time i got all of my food and got back to my seat majority of the food was not hot anymore. I hate to say it but probably would have been better to go 7-11 right next door.

This was my first bon dance (July 2014) and it made me want to go to others. The music was a…read moremixture of live and recorded songs. Food sales were limited ---chili with your choice of hot dog or rice, shave ice, and andagi ($2), which were yummy! It's a smaller venue, but they provided parking about two blocks away.