Buy Discount Tix Now for SANGHA FIELD TRIP
Save the Date
We’re taking a field trip Saturday, August 5, to see the Peace on Your Wings musical, to dance the Bon Odori at Gardena Buddhist Temple, and more. But to secure discounted tickets for the musical, we need you to reserve your seats now.
Pay Now for Ticket Discounts and
Sign Up to Reserve a Spot
If you are interested, we ask you to do these two things now:
Pay Now for Ticket Discounts
Sunday, June 25 is the deadline to reserve theater tickets at the group discount rate of $25 per seat. Please deliver or mail your check, payable to BTSD, or ask office staff to help with a Credit Card that Sunday, or use the Temple PayPal link at GIVE or bring cash, by the deadline.
In the check memo line, or the PayPal comment field, please indicate POYW and note how many seats.
What happens if I miss the discount deadline? You can purchase tickets after the deadline through the Temple at a cost of $35 per seat, if you order before July 9. With the group discount you save 28%.
ALSO PLEASE Sign up to Reserve a Spot
Once you reserve a seat for the musical, the Temple also asks you to sign up now for the trip, so we can gauge interest and likely transportation charges. The signup sheet can be found in the office. Call the temple at (619) 239-0896, or email at info@btsd.net or Ralph Honda at (619) 885-3788, or email at rkhonda205@gmail.com.
Itinerary
9:00 a.m. – Depart from BTSD
9:45 a.m. – Pick up at Vista Buddhist Temple
11:00 a.m. – Arrive at Los Angeles, Little Tokyo
11:00 to 1:45 p.m. – Lunch, shopping and (optional) Ireicho stamping at JANM
2:00 p.m. – Peace on Your Wings at JACCC Aratani Theatre
4:30 p.m. – Bus departs for Gardena
5:00 p.m. – Arrive Gardena Buddhist Church; dinner and taiko
6:00 p.m. – Gardena Buddhist Church Bon Odori
7:00 p.m. – Depart Gardena Bon Odori
8:30 p.m. – Arrive Vista Buddhist Temple
9:00 p.m. – Arrive BTSD
Transportation Quality and Costs
This won’t be like your old school field trips. We will contract for a modern Bus Motorcoach, with bathroom, and other conveniences, including comfortable, individual seating. Our goal is to rent a large 56-seat coach. Cost will depend on the number of responses and will be determined closer to the date. We expect the cost to be in the neighborhood of $35 or less. The Temple Board has approved a significant sum to underwrite the bus trip and make it more affordable for our guests.
MORE ABOUT EVENTS
Little Tokyo in Los Angeles (11:00 a.m. to 1:45 p.m.
This will be individual time and you can shop and dine as you chose among the many options in Little Tokyo.
Japanese American National Museum and Irei
Irei: National Monument for the WWII Japanese American Incarceration is a multi-faceted project to address the erasure of the identities of individuals of Japanese ancestry who experienced wartime incarceration and to expand the concept of what monument is through three distinct, interlinking elements: a sacred book of names as a monument (Ireichō), a website as a monument (Ireizō), and light sculptures as monuments (Ireihi).
Learn more about JANM and the Irei Exhibit here.
Please Note. Stamping of the Ireichō will require a reservation. (Stamping allows us to validate and remember individuals who were in the internment camps.) All visitors with a reservation are welcome to stamp the Ireichō, and each group may stamp up a total of up to six names per reservation. You do not have to be a former incarceree, a relative, or a descendant of a former incarceree to stamp the book. Click the link “Learn more here” above to see if a reservation is available while in Little Tokyo. Even without a reservation, you can still visit the museum for a modest fee and learn more about the Irei project.
Peace on Your Wings
This original musical, which first premiered in 2015, is inspired by the real-life story of Sadako Sasaki and her one thousand paper cranes. Sadako was two years old when Hiroshima was bombed in 1945, and was severely irradiated. She struggled with the resultant leukemia, and as a middle school student, became especially ill. She dedicated herself to folding one thousand origami cranes to wish for a peaceful world where others would not have to suffer the effects of war.
The producers have mounted an all-new production, including some new songs.
Learn more here about Peace on Your Wings.
JACCC Aratani Theatre
The Japanese American Cultural and Community Center, in Little Tokyo, is home to the Aratani Theater, treasured resources in the Japanese American Community. Seating 880, and with open sight lines from every seat, the theater is the epicenter of Japanese and Japanese American performing arts. It is also treasured by the arts community to showcase the vibrancy and diverse cultures of Southern California and beyond.
Learn more about the JACCC Aratani Theatre here.
Gardena Buddhist Church
Like BTSD, this beautiful temple was founded in 1926 and remains a vibrant and cultural and spiritual resource in Gardena, California. Its current membership is signifiantly larger than in San Diego, as Gardena has a large Japanese-American population, and you will see business signs in Japanese as well as English. Some have called Gardena transnational, as new Japanese immigrants find it attractive.
The Gardena Buddhist Church Bon Odir takes place on citys streets closed for the event.