Seabrook Obon Celebrates 80th Anniversary
A version of this article originally appeared in Pacific Citizen.
On Saturday, July 19 a diverse crowd of over a thousand gathered to celebrate the 80th annual Obon at Seabrook Buddhist Temple in rural Bridgeton, New Jersey. Located about 40 miles south of Philadelphia near the former grounds of Seabrook Farms, once the largest single employer of Japanese Americans leaving camp during the postwar resettlement. The current temple was built in 1969. Prior to then, the Buddhist congregation met at a different building in the Seabrook company housing complex known as Hoover Village. Obon has been celebrated at Seabrook in some format since 1945, with the Bon Odori festival happening annually since 1949.
The 80th annual Obon was dedicated to the memory of Seabrook Temple’s members and community supporters. As the program brochure explained, “This is to maintain the mindful training of venerating those to whom we owe a lifelong debt of gratitude. The focal point however, is the knowledge that everything we are is surely due to the many known and unknown conditions that have molded us since time began. People of the past have sacrificed so that life would be better for us and we must never forget that… just as we want to leave this world a better place for our having been here.”
Highlights of the festival included a book talk by “The Spinach King” author John M. Seabrook, Jr. Grandson of Charles F. Seabrook, who is sometimes credited as the Henry Ford of agriculture for his production line advances in the process of canning and shipping frozen vegetables. The younger Seabrook is an accomplished writer and journalist whose most recent book chronicles the rise and fall of his family’s business empire. Other presentations included an introduction to Buddhism delivered by the temple’s supervising minister Reverend Kurt Rye, and a martial arts demonstration by Shotokan Karate Academy. The festival also featured retail vendors, craft making stations for children, and food trucks.
Following the opening procession led by members of Seabrook Temple’s Hoh Daiko, a children’s choir from the Upper Deerfield Township Schools sang the national anthem. After the first round of bon odori, which consisted of twelve songs, Hoh Daiko opened the taiko performances followed by Nen Daiko of the Ekoji Buddhist Temple in Fairfax Station, Virginia. The taiko showcase closed with Soh Daiko Drummers of the New York Buddhist Church and was followed by a second round of bon odori. The festival ended with a brief memorial service led by Rev. Rye in the temple’s meditation garden where attendees were able to light lanterns in commemoration of their lost loved ones.
The main attraction of course, was the bon odori led by Seabrook Minyo Dancers, the local troupe who practices out of the temple. Established in 1975 by longtime JACLer Sunako Oye, the Minyo group is currently led by JACL Seabrook chapter president Stefanie Pierce, who also serves as Treasurer of the JACL Eastern District Council. Asked for her impressions of the 80th anniversary festival, Pierce shared, “Since COVID hit, it's been down, and so we're doing everything we can to get people to come back, but it's tough. We're still trying to climb back from COVID. It used to be more of a family reunion.”
Although many of the familiar faces were missing, a few people living outside the area did return for the event, including former EDC Governor Michael Asada. General attendance by local residents of South Jersey outside of the Japanese American community also appeared to be higher than past years since the pandemic ended. Asked if there was anything particularly exciting about this year’s Obon, Pierce shared some of the new dances that Philadelphia-based KyoDaiko member Tamiko Laincz brought back with her from a recent trip to Japan. Pierce elaborated, “she keeps bringing us back new dances, and so we're trying to bring them in. Some of the older ladies are very traditional, and they're like, ‘they're too fast,’ but we’ve got a couple that we’re all excited about.”
Among the new dances at the 2025 Obon were Shiawase Samba, Bling Bang Bang Born, and Pokemon Ondo, which drew many of the younger attendees into the circle. In the weeks before the festival, Seabrook Minyo hosted several dance practice sessions at the temple. They also used digital technology to help attract a wider audience. Pierce explained, “we streamed them on Facebook Live. We're trying to get into the age, you know, social media and all that.”
Sensei Ray Owens of Shotokan Japanese Karate Academy and current leader of Seabrook Temple’s own taiko troupe Hoh Daiko shared some of his thoughts on this year’s celebration. “I think the temple is doing really well. 80 years is great, and I hope I’m here for the 100th.” Owens has been involved in the Obon for 20 years already.
Louise Ogata is another member of Hoh Daiko whose parents worked at Seabrook Farms. Having grown up in the area, Ogata returned after college and began teaching at the same elementary school she attended, Charles Seabrook School in Upper Deerfield. As one of the founding members of Hoh Daiko, Ogata reminisced about the importance of taiko at the festival. “I remember the first time that Soh Daiko came from New York, the first group [on the East Coast]. I was just blown away by Soh. I thought, ‘wow, that's what I want to do!’ At the time I was dancing. I thought, ‘I like dancing, but I think I like the drumming better.’ It would take over 10 years before we finally started our own.” Ogata was among the founding members of Hoh Daiko, which formed in 1991.
Another founding member of Hoh Daiko was also present at this year’s Obon, Tamiko Ooka, who now leads New York Buddhist Church’s Soh Daiko. Ooka’s family has a longstanding connection to both Seabrook Farms and its Buddhist Sangha, as her grandfather Kikuo Ooka used his carpentry skills to help build the temple. Ooka reflected on her memories of Obon past, “as a child, Obon was a time of joy, wearing my yukata, dancing for my relatives who had passed, and enjoying good Japanese food. In junior high through college, I found my passion for taiko and saw Obon as a time to drum in remembrance and connect with my taiko community.”
A recent member of the Japanese American Leadership Delegation organized by the U.S.-Japan Council, Ooka shared how her impressions of the event have evolved. “I’ve come to see the Seabrook Obon Festival as something even deeper, it’s about community, legacy, culture, and resilience. This 80th anniversary of the Seabrook Obon Festival made me reflect on what it must have been like for those who celebrated the first Obon here after WWII, many just arriving from internment camps, forced to rebuild their lives again. It’s remarkable that they created a community and preserved this meaningful tradition. Seeing their children and grandchildren now leading the way is incredibly moving. In a remote area like Seabrook, continuing to share and celebrate Japanese and Japanese American culture is more important than ever.”
Rev. Kurt Rye also offered some thoughts on the significance of Seabrook, “I always talk about Seabrook because of the Japanese American history, and the Buddhist history is so unusual to this temple. The people in California are really, truly amazed by it.” As one of only three temples associated with the Buddhist Churches of America on the East Coast, Seabrook has been an important bastion for Jodo Shinshu since the postwar era.
With fewer Japanese Americans living in the region however, the future of the congregation is uncertain. Rev. Rye continued, “we're so grateful that the people in the past set it up for us to be able to be here today. I think that's part of the drive with people wanting the temple to continue, because the numbers are decreasing, that's not any secret. But people feel very strongly because it's not like there's another Buddhist temple around. If this temple closed, not only that part of Buddhist history, but also Japanese American history could be lost.”
Seabrook Obon has certainly changed over the years when more of the camp survivors and descendants would return to the region, almost like a pilgrimage. In order for the temple to continue, new audiences and congregants must form their own relationship with Buddhism. As it stands, the majority of the current congregation are not ethnically Japanese.
Tamiko Ooka reflects on some of the changes that have allowed this Obon to remain relevant despite the dwindling population of Japanese Americans in Cumberland County, “while there are some noticeable changes since I was a child such as new faces, new bon odori songs, and new food offerings, it’s heartening to see so many new people stepping up to support the event and carry the torch forward. It’s also reassuring to know that the greater community understands the importance of preserving this tradition. I believe those who have passed on would be smiling, knowing that their efforts continue to live on through us.”
Thankfully based on the warm reception that this year’s Obon received from not only current members of the Sangha, but also the broader community in South Jersey, the Seabrook Temple and its Obon seem likely to continue for many years to come.