Pull Up a Chair: An Invitation to the BCA's Future

In our kitchen, much like others, is a shelf of cookbooks and there is one in particular with well-worn pages and Post-it notes in the margins. The glossy bronze cover captures its title — “Generation to Generation, a Family Cookbook.”

Appropriately named, this cookbook is the culmination of the contributions and collective knowledge of generations of families passed down from generation to generation and family to family symbolizing their countless delicious meals and experiences. Each recipe reflects the love, creativity  and effort that a family member wanted to convey and share with others at our temple and the larger community.

On the first page, a pink Post-it note appears in the top right corner, written in Japanese. The handwriting is distinctive because it’s my mother’s. She writes to tell me that she bought this cookbook for Michiko because it was produced by the Orange County Buddhist Church (OCBC) and she found the cookbook (in typically understated Japanese) very “convenient.” With that simple act, she continues a storied tradition in our community.

As I think about the next two years of my presidency and the future of the BCA, this cookbook weighs heavily on my mind for two reasons.

First, it inspires me with a sense of humility and gratitude that I believe is fundamental to Jodo Shinshu and essential to the leadership history of the BCA.  

Approximately 125 years ago, the original version of the BCA was established in the United States and has continued to provide a sense of community, comfort and awareness for many families, passed from one generation of leaders to another. It started with an idea, scribed to paper  and continues to this day as collective knowledge compiled into goals, reports and minutes that we pass along to new leaders to be shared and used over and over.

I am especially grateful for the mentorship and leadership of my recent predecessors, Ken Tanimoto, Rick Stambul, Dr. Kent Matsuda, Terri Omori and Steve Terusaki. Their leadership and guidance make it possible for the achievements and changes the BCA has seen in both its mindset and effectiveness over the past 10 years. Their efforts and the efforts of their executive committees and committee chairs have made it easier for today’s leaders to even contemplate the initiatives we are introducing now.  

Like any cookbook, it reflects the same love, creativity and effort passed down with the hope of sharing these experiences and creating community for generations to come.

Second, this cookbook also reminds me of a childhood conversation with my mother while she was cooking and I was helping (bothering) her. When she added spices to the pot, I would ask her what she added and how much she used.  

Her response was always a simple “family secret!” — her gentle way of redirecting a curious 6-year-old. That same cookbook she gave me, from time to time, uses the phrase that unsettles every rule-follower: “ … add to taste.” For someone who finds comfort in clear instructions, nothing is more unnerving.

The cookbook and my mom gently remind me that despite our best planning and the generations upon generations of recipes and established practices handed down with the best of intentions, in the end, the recipe or cooking process requires us to personalize the effort to our interpretations, tastes and our best aspirations today for an amazing meal which we hope everyone will enjoy despite their differences. And yet, it is precisely this tension — between the inherited recipe and the cook’s own instinct — that points to the second lesson this cookbook has taught me.

With your help and support, over the next two years, I plan to use established recipes with aspirational changes to challenge myself and all of us to embrace a mindset around growth and change.  

My goals include expanding Jodo Shinshu in the United States and to create and support sustainable temples, Sanghas and communities for future generations to sit together and enjoy while passing their own ideas and dining experiences along. Today’s meal may have taken almost 125 years or several generations, but I believe it will definitely be worth the wait.

As we gather around the table, I want to express my deep gratitude to the BCA leadership team whose partnership makes this work possible: Darlene Bagshaw, Jeff Matsuoka, Bradley Menda, John Arima, Arleen Miya, Bishop Rev. Marvin Harada, Rinban Rev. Henry Adams and Gayle Noguchi. Their dedication and generosity of spirit inspire me every day.

There is always room at this table — your voice, your ideas and your presence make the meal richer for everyone. I invite you to engage with us in conversation, become a part of the BCA leadership team and help us write the next chapter of this amazing tradition together. getinvolved@bcahq.org