Ikebana Grand Master Kayoko Fujimoto Turns 100

She Is the Oldest Hongwanji Minister in BCA’s Sangha

Mrs. Kayoko Fujimoto, the oldest Hongwanji minister in the BCA Sangha,  celebrated her 100th birthday on New Year’s Day.

She is the widow of the late Rev. Hogen Fujimoto, the mother of Rev. Ken Fujimoto and Rev. Dennis Fujimoto and a fully ordained Hongwanji minister with Tokudo and Kyoshi ordination certifications.

Born on Jan. 1, 1926, as Kayoko Noda in Osaka, her father was in the lumber business and she grew up with five siblings. Fujimoto sensei, henceforth referred to as Kayoko sensei, as she is respectfully referred to by her many students, has enjoyed a life beyond her wildest dreams.

Today, Kayoko sensei is recognized as one of the few Grand Masters of the Ohara School of Ikebana flower arranging, having shared the beauty and path of the way of flower with hundreds of students and thousands of enthusiasts for more than 75 years.

Her lifelong interest in flower arranging first began as a child and she began her formal study of ikebana flower arranging as a part of her bridal training. With the encouragement of her husband, Kayoko sensei continued her ikebana studies and received her first instructor’s certificate in 1952. 

In 1953, after passing three successive ikebana examinations judged by the headmasters of the major flower arranging schools, Kayoko sensei received Japan’s official Ministry of Education teaching certificate.

After her husband’s passing in 1982, Kayoko sensei had a life-changing, treasured conversation with the late Lady Yoshiko Ohtani, the wife of the retired Monshu Kosho Ohtani, grandfather of the current Monshu. Lady Ohtani begged Kayoko sensei to remain active in the temple by serving as a BCA minister and taking on the role of a Kaikyoshi minister, even though women ministers were not common in the BCA at that time.

After thoughtful consideration of Lady Ohtani’s request, Kayoko sensei politely declined, and it was then that Lady Ohtani encouraged Kayoko sensei to continue to contribute through sharing the Dharma through ikebana. These words of confidence and support from Lady Ohtani have been and remain Kayoko Sensei’s life purpose.

When asked what was it that sparked her original interest in Buddhism, Kayoko sensei replied that it was a moment at her father’s funeral service.  

During World War II, her father was working in the lumber business in Shanghai, China, when he was killed by terrorists. At the funeral service in Osaka, Japan, she first heard the reading of Rennyo Shonin’s “White Ashes” and she was mesmerized and inspired by the truth of life and existence that Rennyo shared with followers for more than 500 years. And this became the impetus for her desire to study Buddhism.

Sensei’s husband, Rev. Hogen Fujimoto, was born and raised in the Santa Barbara area, graduated from college and went to study for the BCA ministry in post-World War II Japan at Ryukoku University where they met and married when Kayoko was 21 years old.   

Together, with other Nisei BCA members living in post-war Japan, Rev. Hogen and Kayoko Fujimoto helped to start the regular English services held at the Tsukiji Hongwanji Betsuin in Tokyo, which are still being held today.

The Fujimotos and their two sons came to the United States in 1953, and Rev. Hogen Fujimoto’s first assignment was at the Fresno Betsuin Buddhist Temple. This would be Kayoko sensei’s introduction to life in the United States, and together with BCA members, they endured the task of rebuilding the BCA and the Japanese American community after World War II.

It was during this time when Japanese aliens were first given the right to attain U.S. citizenship. After several years of living in Fresno, Kayoko sensei decided to apply for U.S. citizenship. 

She studied hard with the kind assistance of several Fresno members to memorize the names of local, state and federal government officials and other pertinent responses she assumed that the immigration judge would ask her.  

On the day of her citizenship test, she began to panic because the applicant before her, who was also an Asian American, was taking so much time with her interview.

When it came time for Kayoko sensei’s interview, the judge, who was also female, asked her only one question: “What is the color and brand of your beautiful lipstick?” 

Kayoko sensei answered the question and was granted the right to become a naturalized citizen.

Kayoko sensei joined her husband in the BCA during the postwar days, and she admitted that life was not easy, but together with the Sangha members, they all worked hard to rebuild the Fresno Betsuin into one of the strongest BCA temples with many branch churches and Howakai (Dharma gathering) groups in many of the small communities in Central California.

By the time she had arrived in the United States, she already had her teaching license from Ohara ikebana’s headquarters in Kobe, Japan. She was only giving private lessons to a few Fresno temple members. 

It was a visit to the Nisei Week festival in Los Angeles, where she saw what she thought were mediocre flower arrangements, that was her inspiration to start formally teaching Ohara style ikebana in the United States.

After serving Fresno Betsuin, Rev. Hogen Fujimoto was assigned to the Placer Buddhist Church in Penryn, where they desired an English-speaking minister.  

In those days before the BCA had Minister’s Assistants, it was common for the minister’s wife to fill in when necessary and Kayoko sensei would fill in for Rev. Hogen Fujimoto when he was away or unavailable and conduct funerals, makuragyo (the “pillow sutra” performed by a minister for someone who has just died) and memorial services.

After serving Placer, Rev. Hogen Fujimoto was assigned to the BCA Headquarters as National Youth Director in 1963 and the family moved to the Bay Area.

Rev. Hogen Fujimoto was innovative and promoted the establishment of the BCA Scouting Program as well as new YBA activities and even the first Buddhist prison chaplaincy program in the United States, and Kayoko sensei was alongside her husband every step of the way. She continued to her own ikebana and tea ceremony classes throughout Northern California and Central California for nearly 50 years.   

Kayoko sensei also served as the first Japanese section editor for the BCA’s Wheel of Dharma newspaper Horin Japanese section and continued to do the typesetting for many years.

She has provided gorgeous ikebana arrangements for special occasions at the Consul General of Japan’s beautiful residence in San Francisco. She is the founder and was the long-time president of the Ohara Ikebana School of Northern California, the founder of the Ikebana Teachers Federation, and the local Ikebana International organization.

Kayoko sensei is also recognized as a long-time instructor of the time-honored Urasenke School of Japanese Tea Ceremony (“cha-no-yu” or “sado”) with the teaching name, Fujimoto Soga.

In 2010, she was recognized by the Emperor of Japan and was presented with the prestigious Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Rays for her outstanding contributions to ikebana and the promotion of traditional Japanese culture.  

She was also inducted into the Northern California Bunka (Japanese Culture) Hall of Fame for her contributions to ikebana and enhancing community relations. Her life story and dedication to the traditional Japanese cultural arts have been the subject of several articles in magazines and newspapers in Japan and the United States.

Kayoko sensei has the distinction of not only being the oldest Hongwanji priest in America, but her family is perhaps the only BCA family where the entire immediate family are all Hongwanji priests. 

She is the only mother of two BCA ministers — BCA Minister Emeritus Rev. Kenneth Fujimoto and Rev. Dennis Fujimoto, the Resident Minister of the Buddhist Temple of Alameda and Supervising Minister of the Enmanji Buddhist Temple in Sebastopol.

Rev. Hogen Fujimoto passed away in 1982 while he was serving as Rinban of the Sacramento Betsuin. Kayoko sensei has five grandchildren and four great-grandchildren, and she continues to live independently in San Leandro, south of Oakland, where she remains an active member of the Buddhist Church of Oakland, the BWA and the Momijikai senior group while continuing to teach in the Bay Area.

BCA and ikebana flower arranging and sado tea ceremony enthusiasts and students from around the world have been fortunate to have been and continue to be inspired by the great contributions to the advancement of traditional Japanese cultural arts made by Rev. Kayoko Suiyo Soga Fujimoto. 

One long-time fan praised Kayoko sensei’s inspiration, creativity and balance in her life and practice.

“Not long ago, Fujimoto sensei asked me to share with her an ikebana technique more common in my school of practice,” said Jane Naito, an instructor of a different ikebana school called Sogetsu. Naito, a Sangha member of the Buddhist Temple of Alameda, considers herself to be the “ikebana daughter” of Kayoko sensei.

“Even at her stage in life, she continues to cultivate a beginner’s mind, always seeking to learn with joy and curiosity,” Naito said. “I can only aspire that if I am able to reach her age, that I will carry the same energy and spirit of inquiry — ever growing, ever blooming, like the beautiful flowers we arrange together.”

We congratulate Kayoko sensei on her 100th birthday and wish her many more years of good health, happiness and continuing to inspire the world and the advancement of Buddhist understanding, compassion and wisdom through Japanese culture with her many heartfelt talents.