The end of the summer signals it’s that time of year when many people in Kula attend the Kula Shofukuji Mission bon dance. The bon dances are scheduled at Buddhist temples all over Maui, every weekend, all summer.
What is a bon dance? It’s Taiko drums and shakuhachi bamboo flute playing folk music from different parts of Japan. The purpose is to honor those who have departed in the last year and show the ancestors that all is well.
My grandparents came from Hiroshima, Japan around 1907 with very few belongings. They brought their language and bits and pieces of their culture. One of the festivals the Japanese immigrants recreated was the bon dance. I’ve been attending them all of my life!
Growing up in Hilo on the Big Island where there’s not much to do at night when they roll up the sidewalks at 7, the bon dance in the summer was a very popular place to be. We watched the lead dancers with the beautiful kimonos and fans and copied their every move. When we played too much and laughed too loudly they kicked us out of the big dance circle. We couldn’t fool anyone. We were there to see our high school friends that we didn’t see all summer except at the bon dances around town. It was a big social event to us and we were disrespectful of the meaning and purpose of honoring our ancestors.
The food at every bon dance was different. At the Hilo Hongwanji we had to have the teriyaki sticks because we could smell them grilling all evening. Corn on the cob, saimin and chow fun were very popular too. This year on Maui the Kula bon dance featured chow fun and nishime (stew). The Paia Rinzai Zen Mission is popular for the live music and their excellent Okinawan speciality food. The Paia Mantokuji Mission sells the best little pies. The line to purchase the pies will tell you how everyone agrees with me!
Wrapping up the summer by attending the Kula Shofukuji Mission bon dance is a tradition. Families with graves at this temple on the steep slope put up lanterns, light incense and leave flowers. The sun was setting as grandma and auntie walked a little energetic 2 year old to their family’s gravestone. They were introducing him to grandpa’s grave and helping him to leave a can of soda. Some years the clouds roll in and lay a mist over the lanterns. This year the sun was setting on a day that was clear and warm. All that was left to do was dance.
Maui’s annual bon dance festival schedule runs from June through September. Visit the calendar at Maui Taiko for upcoming events.