The Senshin Buddhist Temple (formerly called the Senshin Buddhist Church) is a Buddhist temple in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. An affiliate of the Buddhist Churches of America (BCA), the temple was built in 1951. It is known for its maintenance of traditional practices and for cultivating one of the earliest

taiko are a broad range of Japanese percussion instruments. In Japanese, the term refers to any kind of drum, but outside Japan, it is used specifically to refer to any of the various Japanese drums called and to the form of ensemble drumming ...

groups appearing in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

under the leadership of Masao Kodani.

History

The temple was built in 1951 in Los Angeles. Originally called the Senshin Buddhist Church, the institution, like many others, had named itself so due to members wanting to be represented as equal counterparts to members of Christian churches. Its most recent leader, Masao Kodani, encouraged younger Japanese-Americans in the 1970s to explore their ethnic and religious roots through various event coordinated at the temple, such as its annual

Obon festival or just is fusion of the ancient Japanese belief in ancestral spirits and a Japanese Buddhist custom to honor the spirits of one's ancestors. This Buddhist–Confucian custom has evolved into a family reunion holiday during which people retu ...

. The church also fostered one of the earliest taiko groups to appear in the United States,

Kinnara Taiko ''Kinnara Taiko'' is a Japanese American drumming ensemble (playing taiko) based out of Senshin Buddhist Temple in Los Angeles, USA. They began playing taiko in 1969 when a few third-generation Japanese Americans gathered after an Obon festival ...

, which formed under the leadership of Masao Kodani between 1968 and 1969 immediately after the celebration of an

by members. Third-generation Japanese-American members of the church played taiko drum for four hours during the festival. Reportedly, their hands were bleeding afterwards, and collectively, they formed the group known as Kinnara Taiko. Taiko continues to be a routine activity at the church, and some have suggested that it is effective at drawing in third- and fourth-generation Japanese-Americans into the Buddhist faith.

References

Buddhist temples in Los Angeles Japanese-American culture in Los Angeles Japanese music history 1951 establishments in California Buddhist Churches of America 20th-century Buddhist temples {{US-religious-struct-stub