Pro-Bilt Construction Co. owner Aldon Mochida (from left) helps lead carpenter Josh Tagalog and mason Ikaika Vaovasa make final modifications on Wailuku Hongwanji’s newly renovated tower on July 14 in the temple’s parking lot. The tower is scheduled to be at the center of Wailuku Hongwanji’s bon dance scheduled for July 28 and 29. — The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photo
For years, two wooden icons resembling the top of a samurai helmet and the shape of a cloud had been rotted by the elements, held together only by paint.
Now, replicas of the aging adornments painted in gold are perched atop Wailuku Hongwanji Mission’s newly refurbished yagura, or tower, that will make its debut next week at the church’s bon dance.
Four to six months and thousands of dollars later, the decades-old tower, which some members estimate could be around 50 years old, will sit in the middle of the bon dance ring and will shine again as its rotting wood, along with sagging steel frame, have been replaced, said active Wailuku Hongwanji member and contractor Aldon Mochida, who worked on the refurbishment of the tower.
Workers preserved around 60 percent of the tower, whose building decades ago had been led by the late Wailuku Hongwanji member Richard Hashi, Mochida said.
“It’s good for another 50 years or 70 years,” he said.
Pro-Bilt Construction Co. owner Aldon Mochida (right) and lead carpenter Josh Tagalog prepare a heavy-duty wheel to be bolted to the bottom of the tower July 14. — The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photo
Wailuku Hongwanji Rev. Shinkai Murakami said termites had been eating away at the structure that is normally stored close to his home on the church grounds. The yagura roof had also broken when “strong winds came,” Murakami added.
“It became real nice now,” Murakami said.
He also has another reason to be excited — the bon dance for his church that is set for July 28 and 29 is the first since the pandemic. Dancing begins both nights at 7:45 p.m.
Buddhist temples hold the festivals during the summer, which is a time to remember ancestors who have passed.
Dancers go around the yagura in the center and move to the beat of taiko drums. There are also food sales, which always draw a crowd.
Pro-Bilt Construction Co. mason Ikaika Vaovasa removes a heavy-duty wheel July 14 so the tower’s support braces can be beefed up. — The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photo
Just about every weekend this summer has an event lined up. Makawao Hongwanji Mission is holding the second day of its Obon festival Saturday, with the food concession opening at 5:30 p.m., Hatsubon First Bon Memorial religious service at 6 p.m. and dance from 7 to 9:45 p.m.
Mochida, whose company Pro-Bilt Construction Co. Inc. also restored the Paia Mantokuji Soto Zen Mission bell tower two years ago, said refurbishing these older structures is always a challenge. He said there are no structural drawings, and as they work on refurbishing the structures they often come across many things that need to be replaced.
Mochida did the Wailuku Hongwanji yagura restoration work in his spare time and got some help from a company worker for the yagura’s roof and had Elegant Painting to do the paint work.
In addition to replacing the yagura’s foundation, plywood on its second-level deck was replaced and cedar shingles was placed on its roof.
The yagura also has new wheels and is able to be secured on the church ground’s uneven surface for the bon dance.
The yagura also grew from 12 feet tall to 15 feet tall — Mochida raised the roof on the second-level deck, as some people who stood on the second level to speak or to perform had their faces obscured by the lanterns hanging down the yagura. At times people had to crouch on the second level, he said.
Mochida also did away with a small 2-foot opening through the floor of the second level where speakers and performers used to climb up a small stairs to get to the second level.
Instead there are ship ladder stairs with handrails on the outside of the yagura that will be used to get to the second level.
Since its refurbishment, the bottom of the yagura no longer needs to be draped with a red and white cloth, which was used to cover the deteriorating tower’s undersides for years.
For at least this year’s Obon, Mochida said dancers and spectators will be able to see each other from one side of the dance ring to the other through the bottom of the yagura since there will be no material covering.
Mochida said they also added more color to the yagura, painting parts of it red and white.
* Staff Writer Melissa Tanji can be reached at mtanji@mauinews.com.
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