Hongwanji-  “I am happy to have been able to visit and express my gratitude to Amida Buddha in Japan, where my parents were born,” shared Midori Konishi (89), a nisei (second generation) Japanese-Brazilian. Konishi and her daughter, Mitsue Olga, visited the Hongwanji for the first time and attended the Hoonko service on January 16.  Konishi’s mother immigrated to Sao Paulo from Fukuoka in the early 1900s where she began a coffee farm. Konishi mentioned, “I still remember quite vividly, how despite all of the hardships, my parents would always put their hands together in gassho in front of the butsudan (family altar). The butsudan was the center of our home.” Konishi’s daughter, who is currently working in Japan, commented on how nice the Japanese she has met have been to her. When asked about her visit to Hongwanji, she shared, “In visiting Hongwanji, I expressed my gratitude to Amida Buddha.”

Excerpt from Hongwanji Journal, February 1, 2010.