Portland Buddhist Church, Buddhist temple in Pearl District, Portland, United States.
Portland Buddhist Church is a Buddhist temple building in northwest Portland, Oregon, listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The congregation, founded in 1903 by Rev. Shozui Wakabayashi of the Jodo Shinshu Buddhist Mission of North America, completed its Tenth Street building in 1910, when it counted over 500 members. The congregation moved to a new temple in Southeast Portland in 1966.
The Oregon Buddhist Temple was founded in 1903 by Rev. Shozui Wakabayashi of the Jodo Shinshu Buddhist Mission of North America to serve Portland's Japanese American community. The Tenth Street building was completed in 1910, when the congregation counted over 500 members. During World War II the property stored belongings of members incarcerated in camps; Rinban Tansai Terakawa died at Minidoka in 1944, and Rev. Hojun Sugimoto returned to lead the community's rebuilding. The congregation used the building for over 50 years, until a new temple was built in Southeast Portland in 1966.
The name reflects the Buddhist community that shaped this space in Portland's Japanese American neighborhood. Visitors today see a building that once served as a gathering place where people practiced their faith together.
The building sits on the northwest edge of Pearl District and is easy to find on foot. Plan to spend time exploring the surrounding area, as the neighborhood offers other historic and cultural sites worth visiting nearby.
Rinban Tansai Terakawa was sent to the Minidoka camp with much of the congregation and died there in 1944; Rev Hojun Sugimoto returned and led the community's rebuilding. The congregation held over 500 members when the Tenth Street building was completed in 1910.
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