Saturday night means time for obon for the champuru bon dance posse. This week, the posse attended the Honpa Hongwanji bon dance on Pali Highway in Honolulu. Although Honpa Hongwanji is one of the bigger, more popular sites, this was the first time I visited their bon dance. Rod was kind enough to provide some reconnaissance for us in terms of parking instructions and general information about the bon dance. As a bonafide non-townie, I was not familiar with the area, so thankfully Rod was very detailed in his explanation of where to park and how to get across Pali Highway (without getting killed by speeding cars) via the underground tunnel. Despite arriving extremely early, the YBA lot was already full, but we were able to find parking along the street in the residential area, testing my mad parallel parking skillz (not).
Some random thoughts about Honpa Hongwanji’s bon dance:
* The “Bon boutique” had antique kimono and hapi coats for sale for awesome prices. Ryan S. was able to score a nice black hapi coat for $5. (There was a small tear in it, but for $5, I’m sure he can stand to do a little hand stitching to repair it.)
* Also for sale were homemade jams/jellies and the well-known Hongwanji cookbooks. As any old school local mom will tell you, the Hongwanji cookbooks are the best for local-style recipes!
* The selection of food at Honpa was excellent! Just to name a few: curry bowl, BBQ stick, hot dog, fried noodles, andagi, chilled cantaloupe and watermelon, and my favorite corn on the cob!
* Crowded, but not overly so. There was still room in the bon dance circle to move without feeling claustrophobic.
* Learned a new version of the Fukushima Ondo tonight with the towel! (By the way, if you intend to do the Japanese dances, it’s a good idea to buy — or bring — a towel.)
* Yes, they feature Okinawan dancing — but only one set.
* Overall: Love it!
Here are some scenes from the bon dance…
Honpa Hongawanji (Honolulu, Hawaii)
Thanks for the info on the bon dance, Rod! You da man!
Dad and Shari display Honpa Hongwanji’s bon dance towel
I was glad that Ryan S. was able to join us!
Shari and me, donning our hapi coats
