Construction to Begin Soon on SJ Dharma Center

FYI For more information on the San Jose Betsuin Dharma Center, please visit: bit.ly/3OztOp5

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Construction is expected to begin soon for a $15 million project to replace the San Jose Buddhist Church Betsuin’s antiquated six-decade-old Education Building with a state-of-the-art facility that will expand space for temple programs and also serve the wider Japantown community.

About 200 people attended a ceremonial groundbreaking on Dec. 7 at the end of the Bodhi Day service as then-Rinban Rev. Gerald Sakamoto and Rev. Etsuko Mikame took turns using a jackhammer.

“We are very excited about our project,” said Steve Onishi, the temple’s vice president of operations and one of the project managers. “We believe that it is an integral part of our plans to grow our Sangha by making our facilities more attractive to the younger generations. We also believe that it will help to increase interest in the surrounding San Jose Japantown community.”

Called the Dharma Center, it will be nearly double the size of the current two-story Education Building and is designed as the new home for Lotus Preschool, Dharma School, Japanese Language School and other temple and Japantown activities. 

The main building will feature classrooms, multi-purpose room, library and conference room, and space designed for the preschool, including a play area, office and kitchen. There will also be a separate storage building with a workshop.

So far, more than $14.3 million has been raised to pay for the project, about $700,000 short of the estimated cost.

The San Jose Betsuin is currently waiting for the City of San Jose to finish processing a building permit as well as other associated permits. Construction is expected to take about a year to complete.

Ray Matsumoto, one of the most vocal supporters of the project, said he and other temple senior advisers (komon) have been advocating to replace the Education Building for more than 15 years.

“The building was showing its age,” said Matsumoto, also one of the project’s most generous financial supporters.

Matsumoto said his father, a “strong Buddhist,” was from the generation of Japanese immigrants — many of them strawberry or vegetable farmers — who helped support building the Japanese-style Hondo in 1937, during the Great Depression. He hopes the Dharma Center will help the San Jose Betsuin thrive for future generations.

The temple decided to undertake a two-phase campaign to renovate or replace the Education Building and the Annex Building, which houses a gym, kitchen, multi-purpose room and classrooms. A consultant’s report concluded the two buildings were potential hazards during a major earthquake.

A $5.4 million seismic retrofit and renovation of the annex was completed in 2016. Rather than also strengthening and remodeling the Education Building, the temple board opted to replace the facility.

Rev. Gerald Sakamoto, the Betsuin’s Rinban during the planning stages, coined the Dharma Center name, saying the three main temple buildings represent the Three Treasures: Buddha (Hondo), Dharma (new education building) and Sangha (Annex Building).

For more information on the Dharma Center, please visit: bit.ly/3OztOp5

If you have any questions about the project, please email our new Dharma Center project email address: dharmacenter@sjbetsuin.org