Takiko Ichinose

 Takiko Ichinose was the last child born to Yoshigoro and Tome Ichinose.

She was born on December 4th 1915 in Honolulu.

When Takiko was one year old her mother Tome passed away and she grew up with 8 brothers  (her sister Osamu was already married) and life was hard for her.

At some point she was dropped as a toddler and had spinal trouble which was complicated by Tuberculosis of the spine. When she was 5 she spent 3 years in Shriner’s hospital. When she turned 16 she was hospitalized again for 13 years at Leahi hospital! Needless to say Takiko lived through a very challenging and very painful childhood and into young adulthood.

During her time at Leahi hospital she was visited daily by Earnst Shinkaku Hunt, a priest at the Soto Mission, a Zen Buddhist Temple. He tutored her and became a good friend and inspiration and when she was released from the hospital she joined the Soto Mission and worked beside the priest and in 1971 she was appointed as a priest herself. The inspiring story of her work in the mission and her early life is detailed in the attached newspaper article dated May 1975.

 On September 22nd 1983 Takiko passed away during an attempted burglary at the temple. The attacker was eventually captured and found guilty of murder. Takiko, who found enlightenment and peace in her life had it end tragically but this does not take away her journey from childhood to being a Buddhist priestess and her gift to us all with her love and service. She would like us to remember her by taking the best she had to offer to attach to our own lives.

(A newspaper article about her passing is attached if anyone wishes to read it)

Throughout her work she also published and was involved in many short story books and handouts.

My work on Takiko is only beginning and I will be adding on to this page as I find more information on her.