With a Pending Lawsuit, a Broken Peace for JA Buddhists
Little Tokyo's Jodo Shu Betsuin's mostly Nisei members are waging an unlikely battle against its Japanese parent body. The fight is being likened to a Catholic church suing the Vatican.
Sumako Iwahashi's Little Tokyo home is just a few steps from the Buddhist temple she had been actively involved in for over 40 years, but the distance in her heart is gaping.
The name splashed across the Buddhist temple with its traditional Japanese garden located at 442 East Third Street reads: Jodo Shu North America Buddhist Missions (JNABM), but Iwahashi doesn't feel welcomed anymore. Not since she and her Jodo Shu Betsuin members were expelled from the Jodo Shu organization and the Los Angeles temple in 2003 amidst allegations of slander, subversion and even physical assault.
The tension between the mostly Nisei Betsuin congregation and its Japanese religious umbrella organization had been mounting for years, but in October 2003 the temple's peace was broken.
"Betsuin has been granted the privilege of acting as a Jodo Shu temple affiliated with JNABM only so long as both parties so agree. JNABM can no longer agree to Betsuin's affiliation with JNABM," read an Oct. 17, 2003, letter addressed to believers and supporters of Jodo Shu.
Since then Iwahashi, a Betsuin board member, has struggled with reality. She along with other expelled Betsuin members have been attending services in the basement of a Little Tokyo community center with makeshift altars and incense sticks that cannot be burned because of fire codes.
"I'm sad. We loved our temple. We worked so hard and now we have no place to go. I'm 89 and I have nowhere to go," said Iwahashi tearfully. "Why did they have to do this to us?"
A 'David Versus Goliath' Lawsuit
"For the first 10 years while this problem was brewing, [Betsuin] members did not speak up and it got out of hand," said Bill Iguchi, a Sansei from Mesa, Arizona, whose family has been involved with the Jodo Shu temple since the 1950s.
Now Betsuin members have voiced their discontent loudly by suing JNABM for dissolution of partnership and keeping the Betsuin's personal property.
The lawsuit, which was filed at the Los Angeles Superior Court in 2004, won its first battle Sept. 25 with the Los Angeles 2nd District Court of Appeals ruling in favor of the Betsuin. The decision, which overturned a May 2006 Superior Court summary judgment, paves the way for a trial between the small Buddhist Japanese American congregation and the head administrative arm of the Jodo Shu religion worldwide.
The legal battle has been compared to a clash between David and Goliath and a Catholic church taking on the Vatican.
"It was a difficult choice," said the Betsuin's attorney James Ebert about the congregation's decision to sue. "But they were left with no choice."
In addition to the monetary loss associated with the dissolution of their partnership, the Betsuin says JNABM has kept the congregation's personal property including computers, Buddhist statues and an altar.
The partnership between the Betsuin and JNABM began harmoniously in the 1980s when both parties joined forces to raise funds to buy the land on Third Street and build a temple.
Prior to the partnership, the Betsuin was an independent temple with its own facilities near the University of Southern California. There, generations of JAs have gathered since 1936 to practice Jodo Shu - a branch of Pure Land Buddhism - under the leadership of Bishop Reikai Nozaki, who founded the Betsuin at its original Jefferson Boulevard location.
By agreeing to help buy and build the new temple on Third Street, the Betsuin entered into a business relationship with JNABM. The Betsuin agreed to share in the cost of construction and pay for one-third of all operating expenses of the new temple while the JNABM would retain the title of the property and the temple. The Betsuin sold its old temple to help raise funds and when construction was complete, the congregation moved in.
Now Betsuin members want back what they say is rightfully theirs.
"We were robbed. We did so much for the temple and just like that they took it away," said Harney Ishii.
But the JNABM said they allowed the Betsuin's trustees three days to remove personal items from the temple after the Oct. 31, 2003, disaffiliation.
"The trustees then demanded that JNABM also give them all the religious items donated over the years to the temple and to the Jodo Shu religion. This is Betsuin's main remaining claim today," said Jennie L. La Prade, the attorney representing JNABM. "For example, the trustees demanded that JNABM permit them to remove from the temple the altar, religious statuettes, and the Buddha, among other religious items. JNABM refused because those items belong to the temple and the current congregation who continue to worship at the temple and support the Jodo Shu religion.
"Further, the trustees are not entitled to the property donated to the Jodo Shu religion. Betsuin has been expelled from the Jodo Shu religion, is no longer a Jodo Shu temple, can no longer conduct Jodo Shu religious services, and is not recognized by the religious leadership of Jodo Shu."
Allegations and an Altercation
Satoru Kawai calls it a cultural misunderstanding between officials from the Jodo Shu Japanese headquarters and the Betsuin's trustees.
Satoru headed the Betsuin as bishop from 1979 to his retirement in 2001. Now he and his son, Kent Kawai, hold services once a month for exiled Betsuin members.
"In Japan, it's a sort of a different process. Authority is never questioned there," said Kent, who was elected onto the Betsuin board in 2002. "The ministers in Japan are trying to manage from the other side of the Pacific Ocean."
Some Betsuin congregation members have gone further to accuse the JNABM of conspiring to take control of the entire temple for its monetary value.
During Satoru's tenure as bishop, the Jodo Shu Religious Corporation (JRC) assigned ministers from Japan to the Los Angeles temple. Congregation members say the trouble started with the arrival in the late 1990s of Ministers Kodo Tanaka and Masanori Ishihara.
"We had 14-15 visiting ministers before [Tanaka and Ishihara]. Before this, we had no trouble," said Iwahashi.
La Prade said the Betsuin trustees inappropriately tried to control the ministers and their religious activities. But the growing hostility came to a head in 2001, when Tanaka accused some trustees of assault.
"I thought it was nothing," said Ishii about the incident that he was named in. According to Ishii, the trustees met Tanaka and Ishihara at the temple to help plan an event. Ishii asked for a copy of the paper the ministers were handing out; he was allegedly told he didn't need one because he did not read Japanese.
"I said, 'okay it's your show' and flicked the paper out of [Tanaka's] hands and walked out of the room," said Ishii, who added that the alleged altercation happened when he was out of the room. But Tanaka and Ishihara demanded a written and oral apology from various Betsuin members.
Because the ministers notified Japan, JNABM officials asked Satoru to resign, retire or be fired, said Ishii. In turn, Ishii filed a defamation lawsuit against Tanaka. The case was settled out of court with Ishii receiving an undisclosed amount.
"This thing was making me sick. I'm an old man and I can't stand this pressure," said Ishii, 82.
After the defamation lawsuit was resolved, JNABM made many attempts to work with the Betsuin trustees, but the problems persisted, said La Prade. The trustees asked for Tanaka and Ishihara to be sent back to Japan and for Satoru to be reinstated as bishop.
"Accordingly, JNABM and JRC felt they had no choice but to disaffiliate Betsuin from the Jodo Shu religion," she added.
Byproducts of the Conflict
After Iwahashi was barred from the temple, she wrote a letter to Jodo Shu members in Japan.
"I said you can kick us out of the temple, but you cannot kick Jodo Shu out of our hearts."
Since the legal battle began three years ago, services have continued at the temple with Tanaka as the acting bishop. JNABM will also be commemorating its 70th anniversary Nov. 11 with special services - the same day Betsuin members are holding their monthly services in the basement of the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center.
No trial date has been set, but the protracted battle has had heartbreaking circumstances.
The ashes of Iwahashi's husband are located at the temple's nokotsudo or chapel along with a tablet inscribed with her ancestor's name. She has only been able to visit her husband's ashes once. She was later told she needed an appointment.
"It came to this ridiculous situation where if Betsuin members wanted to visit their relatives, they would have to call me and I would have to call [JNABM's lawyer] to set up an appointment," said Ebert.
But the JNABM contends that no one has been barred from visiting loved ones and that many former Betsuin members have stayed with the temple.
"Typically, when a family ceases to worship at a temple, the family removes the ashes and places them elsewhere," said La Prade. "Accordingly, since the trustees have separated from the temple, JNABM requested that each of the trustees retrieve from the temple their family ashes and tablets. Much to JNABM's surprise, the trustees have refused to retrieve their family ashes and tablets, choosing instead to lodge unfounded complaints about lack of access."
For Ishii, whose wife's ashes are also located at the temple, the reason is simple - he paid for the spot. Why should he have to move it?
But for others, the reason to continue the fight is far more ephemeral.
"The older folks want to see the sunlight when they leave this earth," said Ruth Nakamura, a Sansei Betsuin member from Mission Hills, Calif.
"The property inside that temple represents everything that [the Nisei] worked hard to get back after everything was taken from them during World War II. To have this happen ... it's like a slap in the face," said Kent.
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