Berkeley Higashi Honganji

Berkeley Higashi Honganji is a Buddhist temple in Berkeley rooted in the Jodo Shinshu tradition, a major Japanese Buddhist lineage with more than a century of history in the United States. Housed in a building dating to the late 1930s, with classrooms and a social hall added in the 1960s, the temple supports both religious observance and community life. Its activities include services, Dharma School, Women’s Buddhist Association involvement, ministerial writings, poems, and community reflections shaped by themes of heritage, identity, and remembrance. The temple’s annual calendar includes New Year’s Day Service (Shusho-E), Bodhi Day, Eitaikyo memorial observance, and Hanamatsuri, reflecting a communal practice of nenbutsu sustained through ritual, teaching, and intergenerational tradition.