WAIMEA — Sept. 2, 1945 is recognized as the end of World War II when the Americans and Japanese signed documents aboard the U.S.S. Missouri in Tokyo Bay.
On Sunday, the Waimea Shingon Mission and Rev. Kohtoku Hirao will host an interfaith service celebrating the 80th anniversary of the end of WWII, and commemorating the legacy of the 100th Infantry Battalion and the 442nd Regimental Combat Team from Kauai.
The service is open to the public and will start at 9 a.m. at the Waimea Shingon Mission in Waimea Valley, where Ken Morikawa of the West Kauai Club 100 and Dr. George Tanabe, Emeritus Professor, University of Hawaii at Manoa, will share some remarks.
The interfaith service will also commemorate those veterans whose toba, or memorial tablets, were “discovered” in the shrine adjacent to the Waimea Shingon Mission, as well as other Kauai nissei that were connected with the 100th Btn and the 442nd RCT.
“Let’s honor them and pray for world peace,” Rev. Hirao said.
During a church clean-up in preparation for the 2024 New Year, volunteers cleaning the shrine that Gold Star families initially constructed in honor of WWII veterans, discovered 40 tobacco containers containing the names of veterans.
“As this year marks the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, I researched these names and, since they were all written in Japanese, decided to translate them into English,” Rev. Hirao said. “Our records were all destroyed in a fire in 1976, so I’m not sure why these 40 names are here. However, I’ve discovered that, with the exception of a few, almost all of them were probably from Kauai.”
Initially, the church believed there was only one name enshrined in the shrine, which is circled by 88 replicas of temples in Shikoku, Japan. According to online sources, the 88 temples belong to various sects and welcome visitors of different beliefs, religions, and nationalities.
The discovery of the 40 toba started church volunteers on a mission to translate the names and discover their final resting places. Rev. Hirao also met with Bishop Tottori of the Liliha Shingon Mission and added names of Kauai nissei associated with the 100th Btn and 442nd RCT to bring the total to 69 names.
Research into these Kauai veterans is ongoing. It has been discovered that these veterans are interred at the Kauai Veterans Cemetery in Hanapepe, the National Cemetery of the Pacific at Punchbowl, Oahu, and the Diamond Head Memorial Park on Oahu.
Source: The Garden Island
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