Obon season is huge in Hawaiʻi.

There's a lot of people who want to go to the bon dance.

It's expanded into a pretty large community activity with, you know, dancing and food and everything.

It's become a big social event.

And of course, you can expect to eat some ʻono local comfort food.

ʻONO!

Hawaiʻi's Food Culture, sponsored by Hawaiʻi Gas, Lōkahi Federal Credit Union, and Hawaii Dental Service.

So we are at the Wahiawā Hongwanji Bon Dance, and this is really bringing back a lot of my childhood memories.

coming here.

We we came here ever since we were little, and it was just such a tradition.

To get ready for the bon dance, we would dress up in our kimono or our happi coat.

There was always a lot of food, crafts, and we just would end up dancing all night.

In Hawaiʻi, obon or bon dance is one of the most popular festivals of the year.

In this episode of 'ONO!, we explore the world of obon and the food that keeps Hawaiʻi residents coming back year after year.

To learn what makes obon such a prominent event, we must understand Japanese Buddhism and its introduction To Hawaiʻi.

Obon is one of our major services for the year, and obon is a time to kind of remember your ancestors, the people that have gone before you, passed away, and it's a it's a chance to reflect on them.

This form of Buddhism, we believe that those those people they still they still are with you.

You know, they they they're trying to help you here in this world.

Buddhism is a very it's a complex religion, but very very it's easy to get into, right?

It's easy.

The key aspects of this the Buddhism here, this this temple, are basically to be able to express compassion and gratefulness.

Principle is we want the pure land after we passed away.

Then one more thing is oneness.

Everybody is equal.

The Buddha save all the people of the life.

Meiji period, the immigration come to Hawaiʻi, and 1889, the first, our Jodo Shinshu minister arrived to the Hawaiʻi, then i started to spread it out.

In Hawaiʻi, I think we have a very good, we have a good balance of social activity, getting people to know each other, as well as the religion.

So, I think in Hawaiʻi, that that kind of aloha spirit side of it kind of came through.

Tonight, the Wahiawā Bon Dance is in full force.

The food booths feature a variety of Japanese-inspired and local-style dishes.

Okay, these two are part of bon dance food staples.

One is yakisoba, which is fried saimin, and inari sushi.

The yakisoba is a stir-fried noodle, so they have that in Japan.

Hawaiʻi's take on it is a little different.

It's fried saimin, as we like to call it, and you're using the saimin noodle, spam, and you'll have sliced, you know, cabbage and carrots and celery, onions.

So that's essentially what's in the yakisoba.

The inari sushi, otherwise known as cone sushi, but it's in aburage, which is fried tofu.

So it's seasoned sushi vinegar rice.

Really good inari sushi.

It's juicy, and this one is so juicy.

So andagi is one of the super popular treats at the bon dance.

There is a long line.

That is going through the parking lot.

Luckily, we were there early, so we didn't have to wait in the long line.

There's always a long line, no matter where you go.

For andagi, it's so popular.

It is crispy on the outside.

It's a fried Okinawan donut.

It's soft on the inside.

It's so good, and you you can't just get one, so you might as well get the dozen.

There is definitely a system to frying andagi.

It's like very rhythmic, where the you know they drop the batter, and everything is timed.

Like they know exactly, it's an art and it's a science to be able to make the perfect andagi.

Get your taiyaki right here!

Only at Reverend's Taikyaki at Wahiawā Hongwanji Bon Dance.

So this is Reverend Hashimoto's taiyaki recipe, his very own.

And how they make it is they pour the batter into a fish mold.

It's like a cast iron fish, and what comes out is something similar to a pancake or like a more like a waffle, and they will fill it with either chocolate or sausage.

They use arabiki sausage, so it's like there's a little bit of a crunch to the sausage.

I could probably eat a dozen of these.

Put the cover on and do it all again!

Come on!

There aren't too many events like this.

Again, it has everything you know, all in one event.

It has, you know, food, dancing.

You can shop.

It just creates a lot of opportunity to have fun together.

How can you not have your spirits lifted?

For many Hawaiʻi residents, bon dance is a callback to simpler times, a celebration of our heritage, and a taste of Hawaiʻi's culinary melting pot.

It just puts a smile on your face, and I think just being around all of that positive energy, the joyfulness, that's something I think that really needs to continue in our communities.