Rev. Carol Himaka Recalled as Beloved, Devoted Minister

FYI

EcoSangha Perspectives: Column dedicated to Rev. Carol Himaka. Page 12

---

Rev. Carol Himaka was remembered as a beloved and devoted Jodo Shinshu Buddhist minister who spread the Dharma to Sangha members — including an Institute of Buddhist Studies (IBS) student named Marvin Harada nearly 50 years ago.

BCA Bishop Rev. Harada said he and Rev. Himaka — affectionately known as “Rev. Carol” — shared a hierarchical relationship from the start. Rev. Himaka was the guiding “senpai,” the Japanese term for a senior colleague and mentor to Rev. Harada, who showed respect as the “kohai,” the Japanese term for a junior colleague.

“Rev. Carol was always my ‘senpai,’ just ahead of me every step of the way, as IBS students, as foreign students studying in Japan, and as ministers in the BCA,” Rev. Harada said. “In that sense, I will always be indebted to her for helping me and guiding me along the way.”

Rev. Harada made his remarks during a special funeral service co-officiated by the Buddhist Churches of America and the Buddhist Temple of San Diego (BTSD) for Rev. Carol Myokai Himaka on Jan. 23 at BTSD.

Rev. Himaka passed away on Dec. 6, 2025, in San Diego at the age of 73.

Rev. Himada grew up in the Overland Heights area of San Diego, the second child of Osao and Setsuko Himaka. She learned to play the violin in elementary school and excelled through middle and high school, advancing to the point she served as the first chair violinist for the San Diego Youth Symphony. 

She received her bachelor’s degree from San Diego State University in arts, and in 1979, graduated with a master of arts degree in Buddhist studies from the IBS in Berkeley, California. She also received a master’s degree in English from California State University, Hayward, in 1989. 

But Buddhism and ministry were to be her calling, which led her to continue her studies at Ryukoku University in Kyoto, Japan, from 1979-81. She received her Tokudo ordination in 1979 and Kyoshi certification and Kaikyoshi status in 1981.

At the BCA, she served nearly four decades as a Kaikyoshi minister at the Fresno Betsuin Buddhist Temple, San Jose Betsuin Buddhist Temple, Enmanji Buddhist Temple, Buddhist Temple of Marin and Palo Alto Buddhist Temple. Her final assignment was with the Southern Alameda County Buddhist Church (SACBC) in 2012.

She also served as director of the Department of Buddhist Education at BCA headquarters in San Francisco from 1989 to 1996. As director, one of her major contributions was the purple Shin Buddhist Service Book in 1994, which is widely used to this day throughout temples and churches in the BCA.

In November 2018, she took a leave of absence from the SACBC because of health issues and officially retired from the BCA on Oct. 31, 2021.

The remembrance portion of the funeral service was conducted by Steve Fuchigami, Rev. Himaka’s brother-in-law. Fuchigami began by paying tribute to his wife Lynn Fuchigami — the younger sister of Rev. Himaka. 

“She took care of Carol and made sure she had everything she needed from supplies to her weekly ration of taquitos, her favorite food,” Fuchigami said. 

Angela Shimizu Turner spoke on behalf of her Shimizu family from the Enmanji Buddhist Temple in Sebastopol, California. 

“Every Sunday of my childhood was spent listening to Rev. Carol with my cousins and my entire extended family,” Turner said. “She is a steadfast icon of my childhood and my entire family’s lives for many years. 

“She officiated the wedding of my father and my stepmother,” Turner continued. “She was, personally for me, a very reassuring source of guidance during my parents’ divorce and she was at my grandmother’s bedside when she passed away. She was a very important and meaningful presence in our lives.”

Lynn Fuchigami recalled the memories of her childhood with Rev. Himaka when they dressed up in the same set of clothes their mother would sew like twins, and the time she turned their bedroom into an “Alice in Wonderland” theme room, complete with the smiling Cheshire cat. 

Kathy Velasco, who along with Karen Fujii at the SACBC took care of Rev. Himaka after she fell ill, recalled her 50-year friendship from the time both were involved with the IBS Summer Youth Program in Berkeley. 

“The one thought I wanted to leave you with is that after Carol was at the rehab,” Velasco said. “I would try to go like every other day, just so that somebody would come and be with her, help her eat or something. 

“And every time I went, I would pull out another old very, very long joke,” Velasco continued. “I knew Carol was on her way back when she would say, ‘No more bad jokes.’ 

“‘I knew that her whole sense of humor was back, so it was great to see,” Velasco said.

Rev. Harada first recalled meeting Rev. Himaka 49 years ago — ever since their days as IBS students at the Haste Street building, now the IBS dorm. They took IBS classes together, had countless discussions about the Buddhist teachings, had meals together, attended the morning service together with the late IBS Executive Director Rev. Haruyoshi Kusada, studied together and even visited other Bay Area temples together. 

He later found out that Rev. Himaka was a violinist when they were talking in her apartment — and she played her violin.

“For me, I was amazed,” he said. “I had never heard anyone play the violin before, up close and personal. She was a wonderful violinist. Rev. Carol was also an outstanding minister and gave wonderful Dharma talks.”

When Rev. Harada traveled to Japan to continue his studies — Rev. Himaka was already there before he arrived. 

“We spent several months in Japan prior to her return to the United States,” he said. “She showed me around and helped me get adjusted to living at the Hongwanji International Center and getting around in Kyoto, Japan, prior to my wife, Gail, joining me. A few months later, she introduced me to some of her friends, who became my friends.”

Rev. Harada quoted from Jodo Shinshu founder Shinran Shonin’s magnum opus “Kyogyoshinsho,” who in turn quotes the “Anrakushu,” or “Passages on the Land of Happiness”:

“I have collected true words to aid others in their practice for attaining birth, in order that the process be made continuous, without end and without interruption, by which those who have been born first guide those who come later, and those who are born later join those who were born before. This is so that the boundless ocean of birth and death be exhausted.”

“‘Those who are born first guide those who come later, and those who are born later join those who were born before,’” Rev. Harada said. “This means that our ‘senpai’ guide us on the path and someday, we rejoin them in the world of truth. We too must be ‘senpai’ to others, guiding them on the path as well. It is our responsibility. It is our duty to serve as a ‘senpai’ to others, just as we have been nurtured and guided by our ‘senpai.’ 

“Today, I pay my deepest respects to my ‘senpai,’ Rev. Carol Himaka, and thank her for all that she did to help me along the way from our days together at IBS to our time in Japan to our many years of serving together.”

Rev. Harada paid a final tribute to Rev. Himaka by playing a video of violinist Ellen Klodova performing the theme from “Schindler’s List” by John Williams.

“As we listen to this beautiful violin piece, may we each hold in our hearts and minds our own special memories of Rev. Carol Himaka,” he said.

Rev. Michael Endo, who chaired the service, concluded the service by pointing out Rev. Himaka’s lasting achievement. 

“Rev. Himaka’s legacy is not only her ministry in the BCA, but as the director of the Buddhist Churches of America’s Department of Buddhist Education,” he said. “One of sensei’s most important projects was the Shin Buddhist Service Book published in 1994, and this service book continues to be used by many of our BCA temples and churches.”

Rev. Endo said Rev. Himaka dedicated the book’s publication to “all those who worked to propagate the Nembutsu teaching here in America … it was her sincere hope that through the BCA’s next century and beyond, the spirit of the Nembutsu would continue to inspire and guide those who come after just as the Bishop mentioned in his message.

“This service book is Rev. Carol’s legacy, I believe, for as the BCA enters its 127th year, sensei’s efforts continue to guide and to enrich our lives today,” he concluded. “So, thank you, sensei. Thank you very much.”