The day after our Bon Dance in Kailua, volunteers arrived bright and early to disassemble and store the yagura; pack up unsold rummage items for donation; put away tables; do a thorough sweeping and mopping; and, finally, arrange the chairs into rows in the hondo.
By mid-Sunday morning, you wouldn't have even known that just 18 hours earlier, we had welcomed hundreds of people to our temple for our annual Bon Dance.
A big mahalo to all who joined us for our 2026 Bon Dance in Kailua at Windward Buddhist Temple.
Whether you danced, performed on our yagura, found a new treasure at our Rummage Sale, bought manju and takuan at our Country Market, ate grilled BBQ sticks and hot andagi, or all of the above, we thank you for joining us in celebrating the Obon festival season with our Windward Oahu community.
We hope you enjoy the rest of the Bon Dance season. And, mark your calendars for the 6th Annual Windward Mall Bon Dance on the first Saturday of October where we'll be serving our Bon Dance food favorites.
The ringing of the kansho (temple bell) by Keiji Kukino signified the beginning of the Bon Dance. Rev. Shingo Furusawa chanted San Bu Jo and Cynthia Rodriguez welcomed everyone to the Bon Dance.
Mahalo to all those who came out for Bon Dance practice on Wednesday, in preparation for our Bon Dance in Kailua at Windward Buddhist Temple on Saturday, July 11!
Mahalo to everyone who came out to the 5th Annual Windward Mall Bon Dance Festival in Kaneohe on Saturday, October 4, 2025. The annual festival is a collaboration and partnership between Windward Buddhist Temple, Kaneohe Higashi Hongwanji, and Windward Mall. The event has also marked the end of the Bon Dance season in Hawaii.
WBT Liaison Minister, Rev. Shingo Furusawa, opened the Bon Dance with the chanting of the San Bu Jo. In addition to dancing around the WBT yagura in Center Court, attendees enjoyed freshly made andagi, takuan, bitter melon namasu, assorted pickled vegetables, manju, nantu (Okinawan mochi), peanut butter balls, and more.
Behind the scenes with our hard-working andagi crew. Mahalo to the mixers, the packers, the runners, and those who worked tirelessly around the hot woks to prepare the golden brown andagi that's always a bon dance favorite.
A big mahalo (thank you) to everyone who helped make our 2025 Bon Dance in Kailua a success!
From the dancers, to the musicians, to those who came to shop or eat or just to watch, we are grateful for all of you joining us in Kailua on Saturday. Celebrating the Obon season every summer with the Windward community is a tradition we are excited and honored to continue.
To our WBT members, friends, and families who have volunteered countless hours preparing for Saturday -- as well as working throughout the Bon Dance in the Country Market, food concessions, and the Bon Dance itself -- thank you!
We hope you enjoy the remainder of the 2025 Bon Dance season. And mark your calendars for the annual Windward Mall Bon Dance on Saturday, October 4, 2025. Windward Buddhist Temple will again be partnering with Windward Mall and Kaneohe Higashi Hongwanji to close out the Bon Dance season.
Country Market & Rummage Sale Volunteers
We had a great time at the 4th Annual Windward Mall Bon Dance last Saturday, October 5th. Mahalo to Windward Mall and our co-partner, Kaneohe Higashi Hongwanji Mission, for another great Bon Dance in Kaneohe. This batch of photos is from our booth, where we sold takuan, manju, tsukemono, nantu, and more -- all made by our members at WBT. Mahalo to our volunteers and thank you to everyone who patiently waited in line for andagi!
A big mahalo to our hard-working andagi crew. This team worked straight through for hours to mix, cook, and pack hundreds of freshly made andagi for the Bon Dance.
Mahalo to the team that assembled the yagura this morning for next week's Bon Dance. Our yagura is a bit unique in that it can be completely disassembled for storage. Each year the team puts all the pieces together, along with the lights and chochin (lanterns). We hope to see everyone on Saturday, July 13 at WBT!
A big mahalo out to everyone who joined us in Kailua for Windward Buddhist Temple's first Bon Dance at our temple in 4 years. We hope everyone enjoyed themselves, whether it was finding treasure at the Rummage Sale, getting a tub of takuan at the Country Market, enjoying ono andagi and BBQ stick dinner plates at the food booth, cooling down with shave ice by the Junior YBAs, learning about our temple from Rev. Brennan and Rev. Sumikawa, or simply dancing the night away around the yagura.
We were amazed at not only how many came from the Windward side, but from just about all over the island to attend our Bon Dance. The Obon season truly is a time to come together as a community and celebrate those who came before us. Thank you to all!
Bishop Eric and Tamayo Matsumoto enjoying the Bon dance and WBT’s takuan
Watch highlights of the Bon Dance by PhotoLukeHawaii Travels and Bon Dance
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