History of Jodo Shinshu Buddhism in the United States

Jodo Shinshu Temples on the U.S. mainland belong to the Buddhist Churches of America (BCA). There are 62 BCA temples, with 40 branches and five fellowships throughout the nation. About 60 ministers (senseis) serve the spiritual needs of Jodo Shinshu Buddhists throughout the BCA.

BCA is divided into eight geographical districts. Tri-State/Denver Buddhist Temple, one of four temples that comprise the Mountain States District, is the parent temple in Colorado, as well as for temples in seven surrounding states. DBT ministers travel to several outlying communities in the seven states to serve Jodo Shinshu Buddhists.

BCA belongs to the Jodo Shinshu Hongwanji-ha denomination, also known as Nishi Hongwanji. Our headquarters (Honzan) is located at Horikawa-dori, Kyoto, Japan. There are more than 10,000 Nishi Hongwanji temples in Japan.

Many Japanese immigrants to the United States came from areas where Jodo Shinshu Buddhism was strong. They brought their Nembutsu path with them. Since the late 1800’s, Nishi Hongwanji’s missionary work has established Jodo Shinshu temples in Hawaii, the mainland United States, Canada, Africa, New Zealand, and elsewhere throughout the world.

His Eminence, Monshu Koshin Ohtani (Sokunyo Shonin), is the 24th descendant to hold the position of Nishi Hongwanji’s spiritual leader. He was born on August 12, 1945 and succeeded his father, Lord Abbot Shonyo (Ohtani Kosho) in April 1978.

Jodo Shinshu in the Tri-State Area

Japanese immigrants settled in and around Denver in the early 1900s. Many were Jodo Shinshu Buddhists with strong ties to their religious heritage. Married couples especially wanted a strong Sangha for their families.

In 1916, the Tri-State Buddhist Temples’ headquarters was formed. The organization was incorporated as the Denver Buddhist Church because of its Denver location, but it served Buddhists in the tri-state area of Colorado, Nebraska, and Wyoming. The first headquarter, at 1942 Market Street, was located in a former brothel. Revered Tessho Ono served as the first assigned minister. Many ministers followed.

Reverend Yoshitaka Tamai was assigned to the Denver Buddhist Church in 1930. He had a particularly profound influence on the Tri-State sanghas due to his giving nature and his sincere endeavor in serving the widespread Buddhist population under his domain. Reverend Tamai died in 1983; he is honored and remembered with an Endowment Chair bearing his name at the Institute of Buddhist Studies in San Francisco.

During World War II, Japanese-American citizens were forced into relocation camps. Simultaneously, many Japanese-Americans from California were evacuated to Colorado where they lived as “regular” citizens as opposed to “prisoners” of the relocation camps; most of these people settled in Denver. To serve them, the Denver Buddhist Church structure was enlarged. Reverend Shodo Tsunoda joined Reverend Tamai in 1944. Jodo Shinshu Buddhists throughout the tri-state area, especially in rural areas, generously gave money so a new facility could be built. In 1947, the new temple was dedicated and the name Denver Buddhist Church was changed to Tri-State Buddhist Church.

The new Tri-State Buddhist Church served sanghas in Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska, Montana, Kansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico and western Texas. Each temple conducted Dharma School and services every Sunday. However, the two assigned ministers could not possibly be in attendance at every service on every Sunday despite the fact that they constantly traveled from one temple to another. So lay members of each Sangha led the Sunday services when a Sensei could not be present.

Denver Buddhist Church did not become a separate temple until 1965. Until then, Tri-State administered Denver’s services and activities with the exception of Denver’s Dharma School, which was conducted by the Denver Sunday School PTA. In becoming a separate Church, we became the ninth member temple of the Tri-State Buddhist Church. (In 1981, both organizations changed their names to designate “Temple” instead of “Church”.)

In 2002 (37 years after the initial separation), Denver Buddhist Temple merged with Tri-State Buddhist Temple resulting in a single Board of Directors and treasury under the new title of Tri-State/Denver Buddhist Temple (TSDBT).

Ministers who have served the Temple since 1916:

Rev. Tessho Ono 1916-1928
Rev. Yoshinao Ouchi 1919-1932
Rev. Yoshitaka Tamai 1930-1983
Rev. Shodo Tsunoda 1944-1974
Rev. Ryotetsu Kazumata 1966-1969
Rev. Unryu Sugiyama 1970-1984
Rev. Harold Oda 1975-1986
Rev. Kanya Okamoto 1975-present
Rev. Eijun Kujo 1986-1996
Rev. Naoki Kono 1996-1998
Rev. Shinryu Sawada 1999 -2002
Rev. Yasunori Teruoka 2003-2006