A smile bloomed over Rev. Kohtoku Hirao’s face on Saturday as he pulled open the wings of the ozuru during the Mokuto: A Silent Prayer for Peace — Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and the world.
Led by the Mokuto Kauai group, Hirao presided over the interfaith service honoring the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombing in Hiroshima.
A proclamation signed by Mayor Derek S.K. Kawakami states that Mokuto Kauai promotes global peace through silent prayer, the folding of origami cranes, or ozuru, and music for the sake of our children and the future of humanity.
The proclamation further thanks Mokuto Kauai for offering a space for the community to gather, join hearts and hands, and reflect in silent prayer for global peace.
Mokuto Kauai, in presenting Mokuto on Saturday, provided the people of Kauai an opportunity to participate in a global movement advocating for the abolition of nuclear weapons.
The atomic bomb was dropped on Aug. 6, 1945, and the World War II in the Pacific was officially ended on Sept. 2, 1945, when Japan formally surrendered aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay.
In honor of the 80th anniversary of WWII ending, the Waimea Shingon Mission, with its memorial tower and replica of the Shikoku 88 shrines, will host an inter-faith service honoring the 80th anniversary of the end of WWII and commemorating the legacy of the 100th Battalion and the 442nd Regimental Combat Team.
Of note are the 59 names of American soldiers whose names are on the Toba memorial tablets that were enshrined on the second floor of the memorial tower adjacent to the Waimea Shingon Mission’s main temple.
Patrick Watase, who will serve as the Master of Ceremony at the Sept. 7 service, said the memorial tower was built after the War by Gold Star families who brought forth immense community support.
For the longest time, people believed there was just one name enshrined in the tower.
While cleaning the church in preparation for the New Year, volunteers “discovered” the toba memorial tablets for 40 names.
Hirao translated the kanji — many of which had multiple meanings — and members of the West Kauai Club 100, now comprised of sons and daughters of 100 Btn veterans, researched the listing in an attempt to locate families of the veterans.
Hirao also visited the Liliha Shingon Mission, and after comparing lists, the number of veterans grew to 59 soldiers from Kauai.
Watase and Club 100 members compared the list with the Kauai Veterans Cemetery and confirmed that 17 of the soldiers are interned in Hanapepe.
The names of the 59 soldiers and the date of their death include:
Toshio Masumura (date of death May 29, 1943), Toshiaki Fujimoto (Oct. 18, 1943), Kaoru Naito (Oct. 23, 1943), Shukichi Sato (Nov. 3, 1943), Hisao Hashizume (Nov. 3, 1943), Masyoshi Wada (Nov. 4, 1943), Iwao Morita (Nov. 5, 1943), Matsutada Makishi (Nov. 6, 1943), Takashi Suzuki (Nov. 28, 1943), Kiyoto Mori (Dec. 5, 1943).
Moriichi Ueda (Dec. 5, 1943), Hifumi Seshiki (Dec. 7, 1943), Masaichi Katsuda (Jan. 10, 1944), Yoshimitsu Nakamura (Jan. 10, 1944), Hisae Shimazu (Jan. 23, 1944), Yutaka Fujii (Jan. 24, 1944), Yoshio Nozaki (Apr. 28, 1944), Jiro Otsuka (June 3, 1944), Satoru. Hiraoka (June 26, 1944), Yoshito Kameta (Jun. 26, 1944).
Sekichi Ganeko (June 28, or 26, 1944), Kazuo Matsushima (July, or June 2, 1944), Masato Ido (July, or June 3, 1944), Tetsu Ebata (July 3, 1944), Mitsuru Urabe (July 3, or 4, 1944), Jiro Tanaka (July 4, 1 944), Toraichi Yoshihara (July 5, 1944), Goro Kashiwaeda (July 6, 1944), Shinichi Sugawara (July 6, 1944), Yoshimi Ishii (July 9, 1944).
Tamotsu Tamashiro (July 9, 1944), Hideo Akiyama (July 10, 1944), Sadao Ogawa (July 12, 1944), Tsutae Betsui (Aug. 2, 1944), Toru Takenaka (Aug. 21, 1944), Minoru Iida (Oct. 9, 1944), Kaname Matsunaga (Oct. 15, 1944), Koichi Uejo (Oct. 26, or 29, 1944), Mitsuru Imamura (Oct. 28, 1944), Kensei Yamashiro (Oct. 28, 1944).
Tsutomu Nakano (Oct. 29, 1944), Nobuo Takagame (Oct. 29, 1944), Iwao Takemoto (Oct. 31, 1944), Yoshio Minami (Nov. 2, 1944), Kiyoshi Choriki (Nov. 7, 1944), Senji Sugahara (Nov. 30, 1944), Yokichi Kondo (Jan. 26, 1945), Akira Tsunematsu (Feb. 17, 1945), Hirao Nakagawa (Apr. 6, 1945), Masato Watari (Apr. 15, 1945).
Tokuyoshi Thomas Miyamoto (April 9, 1945), Maguel Mitsuguchi (no date), A. Shilva (no date), Eizo Miura (no date), Tetsuo Miyake (no date), Edward E. Navaren (no date), Mitsuo Sunada (no date), Kazuyoshi Inoue (no date).
Source: The Garden Island