:Yemyo Imamura
{{Short description|Buddhist priest active in Honolulu, Hawaii, US (1867–1932)}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Yemyo Imamura
| native_name = 今村恵猛
| native_name_lang = jp
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1867|05|27}}
| birth_place = Fukui Prefecture, Tokugawa Shogunate (modern-day Japan)
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1932|12|12|1867|05|27}}
| death_place = Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii, United States
| alma_mater = Keio University
}}
Yemyo Imamura {{Nihongo|2=今村恵猛}} (May 27, 1867 {{En dash}} December 22, 1932) was a Japanese Buddhist priest who was active in Honolulu, Hawaii, and was a leader in the Japanese American community. He was a priest at the Honpa Hongwanji, and started their Young Men's Buddhist Association (YMBA).
Early life
Imamura was born in Togo village, Fukui prefecture, Japan on May 27, 1867.{{Cite book|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/883647512|title=Settlers of the American West : the lives of 231 notable pioneers|last=Snodgrass|first=Mary Ellen|date=24 February 2015|isbn=9780786497355|location=Jefferson, North Carolina|oclc=883647512}} He entered the priesthood in 1876, when he was 10 years old. After studying in temple schools in Kyoto, he received a scholarship to study at Keio University in Tokyo. He graduated in 1893, then returned to Fukui to teach English.{{Cite book|title=Hawaii's AJA pioneers : one hundred profiles commemorating the centennial of the Hawaii Hochi|last=Chinen|first=Karleen C.|publisher=Hawaii Hochi Ltd.|year=2012|location=Honolulu, Hawaii|pages=14–15}}
Career
In 1899, Imamura moved to Hawaii to serve the Jodo Shinshu Buddhists there. He took over the Honpa Hongwanji when its first priest, Honi Satomi, returned to Japan.{{Cite book|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/37566798|title=Issei : Japanese immigrants in Hawaii|last=Kimura|first=Yukiko|date=1992|publisher=University of Hawaii Press|isbn=0824814819|location=Honolulu|oclc=37566798}} Heth married his wife Kiyoko in 1904, and they had a son named Kanmo, who also became a priest.
Imamura established the Young Men's Buddhist Association as a Buddhist equivalent to the YMCA. Their activities included teaching English, helping new immigrants adjust to the local culture, and publishing a magazine called Dōhō.{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/kodomonotamenifo00ogaw|title=Kodomo no tame ni = For the sake of the children : the Japanese American experience in Hawaii|last1=Ogawa|first1=Dennis|last2=Grant|first2=Glen|date=1980|publisher=University Press of Hawaii|isbn=0824807308|location=Honolulu|oclc=7865082|author-link=Dennis M. Ogawa|author-link2=Glen Grant (historian)|url-access=registration}} In 1902 Imamura opened the Fort Gakuen, a elementary school attached to the temple. He later opened the Hawaii Chugakko (middle school) in 1907. Both schools were Japanese language schools that student attended after the regular school day finished. He also advocated for plantation laborers and picture brides.
Much of Imamura's career was spent showing the similarities between Buddhism and Christianity and Americanizing young Japanese immigrants through Buddhism.{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/japaneseamerican00dias|title=Japanese American history : an A-to-Z reference from 1868 to the present|date=1993|publisher=Facts on File|others=Niiya, Brian., Japanese American National Museum (Los Angeles, Calif.)|isbn=0816026807|location=New York|oclc=26853950|url-access=registration}} He wanted to make Buddhism more compatible with American life in Hawaii, and show it as a "universal" rather than "supernatural" religion.{{Cite book|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/698167405|title=Issei Buddhism in the Americas|last1=Williams|first1=Duncan Ryūken|last2=Moriya|first2=Tomoe|publisher=University of Illinois Press|year=2010|isbn=9780252092893|location=Urbana|oclc=698167405|author-link=Duncan Ryūken Williams}} Unlike his Christian contemporary, Takie Okumura, Imamura's focus while Americanizing Japanese youth wasn't to encourage them to leave Japanese culture behind, but rather to carry its values with them as American citizens.
In 1928, Imamura was awarded the Order of the Sacred Treasure for his work expanding the influence of Jodo Shinshu in Hawaii.
Imamura died on December 22, 1932.{{Cite web|url=https://kotobank.jp/word/%E4%BB%8A%E6%9D%91%E6%81%B5%E7%8C%9B-32246|title=今村恵猛(いまむらえみょう)とは|last=日本人名大辞典+Plus,日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)|first=ブリタニカ国際大百科事典 小項目事典,デジタル版|website=コトバンク|language=ja|access-date=2019-03-23}}
Family
His wife Kiyoko (清子) is a daughter of Ahikaga Gizan (:jp:足利義山). Kiyoko's younger sister, Kai Wariko (:jp:甲斐和里子)., is the founder of Kyoto Women's University. Yemyo and Kiyoko's daughter, Keiko Glenn, used to be a professor of Hawaii Loa College.[http://www.ritsumei.ac.jp/file.jsp?research/iilcs/08_lcs_31_1_sakaguchi.pdf 京都女子高等専門学校で学んだハワイの日系人]坂口満宏、立命館言語文化研究31巻1号
Further reading
- {{Cite book|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/47107896|title=Yemyo Imamura : pioneer American Buddhist|last1=Moriya|first1=Tomoe|last2=Bloom|first2=Alfred|last3=Tabrah|first3=Ruth M.|last4=Takeshita|first4=Tsuneichi|date=2000|publisher=Buddhist Study Center Press|isbn=0938474219|location=Honolulu, Hawaii|oclc=47107896|author-link2=Alfred Bloom (Buddhist)}}
References
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Category:Japanese Buddhist missionaries
Category:Jōdo Shinshū Buddhist priests