Local News

Paper blessings are raining down

FIRST PHOTO: The Rev. Akihiro Okada of Daijingu Temple of Hawaii reads a prayer in Japanese as parishioners and attendees sprinkle paper blessings over their heads during Saturday's Tondo Matsuri service at Maui Jinsha Mission in Paukukalo. The Jinsha Mission on Lipo Street is the last remaining Japanese Shinto shrine on Maui and one of a few left in the state. The structure was built in Kahului in 1915 and moved to Paukukalo in 1954.

SECOND PHOTO: Attendees burn Oharai Sama, decorations, letters and good luck charms from the previous year, in a ceremonial bonfire outside the shrine Saturday.