The model of habitat segregation

Hawaii is the first place where Japanese religions started their overseas missions. At first, priests from the home prefecture of emigrants carried out their missionary work sponsored by the immigrants. Then, Japanese religious organizations themselves supported missionaries who they sent from Japan to strategically expand their overseas activities. In those days, Japanese emigrants in Hawaii faced many hardships in working on the sugar-cane plantations. Each plantation community built its own Buddhist temple (which came to resemble a Buddhist ‘church’) or else a Christian church (see below). Compared to Buddhist temples, there were fewer Shinto shrines built. Shamans and mediums from a Japanese cultural base also started their activities. New religions such as Tenrikyō and Konkō Kyō also commenced their diffusion to Hawaii. In the Japanese diaspora communities, however, it was Jōdo Shinshū and Protestantism which struggled for supremacy. There was severe competition between the leader of Honpa Hongwanji, Emyo Imamura, and that of the Makiki Holy Castle Church, now called Makiki Christian Church, particularly through the establishment of Japanese language schools. A strike involving employees of sugar-cane plantations brought them into conflict, though the two leaders addressed the workers together to persuade the Japanese to return to work (Hunter 1971: 66, 87, 92).

The main basis of this conflict was the differing orientation of Japanese community members; towards America or towards their homeland (Nakamaki 1978: 20-22).