Nineteenth International Conference on the Arts in Society

Abstract

This paper is a study of the sacred arts at the Daifukuji Soto Zen Buddhist temple in Hawai’i. As one might expect of a 100-year old temple that has historically served Japanese-Americans, the temple altars were primarily sanctified by sacred objects brought from Japan, especially statues. Each piece of statuary, whether hand-carved or metalwork, was imported from Japan, usually sponsored by a family or a group of families as an offering to the temple. As the demographics of the temple changed and more nonheritage converts joined, so too has the art world shifted. In the last few decades some local artists in Hawai’i have contributed to the traditional arts in interesting ways that further mark the temples as a syncretic, mixed heritage community: modern paintings of Kannon, contributed by a Japanese-born, now-local artist, Mayumi Oda, flank the statue altar; a woman from Oahu, a non-heritage devotee, painted a triptych in collaboration with the reverend of Buddhist images that emerged from a dream; and, a white artist who has collaborated with Asian religious teachers donated some Japanese-inspired woodblock prints. The mix of modern and traditional Buddhist arts both reflects the current temple culture and is an element that serves as an innovative means of creating it.