Enmanji Buddhist Temple: A Taste of Japanese Culture in Sonoma County

Seventy-seven years ago several hundred members of the Bay Area’s Buddhist Churches of America organized a procession through Sebastopol that ended at the elegant Enmanji Buddhist Temple. Old-timers say it was a fun day. Girls wrapped in white kimonos walked along Gravenstein Highway and were greeted with showers of pink and white sweet rice as they neared the temple whose name means “Garden Fulfillment.''

 It was Sonoma County’s first Buddhist worship Hall and over time became a hub of activity for the Japanese and Japanese-American Buddhist community. It was constructed for the Chicago World's Fair in 1933 by the Manchurian Railroad Company. At the fair's close, the railroad company offered it to the Buddhist Mission of North America (now the Buddhist Churches of America).

The building-- a replica of a 12th century Kamakura-style Japanese temple with a curved, pagoda-like roof structure and colorful interior of Chinese motif paintings -- was offered to the Sonoma County Branch of the San Francisco Buddhist Church, but there was a catch. They had to raise $10,000 to pay for the cost of transporting the temple by rail. No small feat but thanks to the efforts of people like Tomotaro Kobuke, an apple farmer in Graton, and Henry Shimizu, a chicken rancher in Cotati, enough money was raised to also pay for a Japanese architect and carpenters to dismantle and move the 250-person temple.

The temple doors will be open to the public during Enmanji Buddhist Temple’s 57^th Annual Teriyaki Barbecue and Bazaar  10am-5pm, Saturday July 10.  For several years, while writing for The San Francisco Chronicle I wrote features about the event. A festive cultural fundraiser, it literally draws thousands of people each year and has become one of the temple community’s most popular ways to introduce itself to the larger community.

The temple festival itself grew out of an effort by Sonoma County's Japanese-Americans to re-establish connections with the community following their internment. Of the original 800 who were interned from 1942 to 1945 in Colorado at a camp called Amache, most returned to Sonoma County.

As one member of the Shimizu family explained, Sonoma County was their home and the Enmanji Buddhist Temple was their place of worship.

As in past years, this year features Enmanji’s famous “eat-in or take-out” chicken, Taiko drumming and martial arts demonstrations. Bonsai, Ikebana, and an outdoor plant sale highlight the community’s green thumbs. While most of them are Japanese and Japanese-American, the community now includes Chinese and Caucasian families.

Admission and parking are free, according to Lance Lew of Petaluma, chair of the temple’s pr committee. The barbecue itself is $11 and there will be an assortment of Japanese delicacies available, too. This is definitely one of Sonoma County’s hidden gem events.  For more information call 707-823-2252 or visit http://sonic.net/~enmanji.