Rev. Yuki Sugahara Amplifies the Dharma

Sacramento Rimban Uses Music, Social Media, New Approaches in Teachings

To listen to Rev. Yuki Sugahara’s daily Dharma messages and to hear his music videos, go to his YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@yukisugahara2259

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When Yuki Sugahara would strap on his electric bass 20 years ago to play with a rock band in Tokyo, he would dress casually in jeans and a shirt.

Now when he plays, he wears the robes of a Jodo Shinshu minister, “fuho” (black robe) over “hakue” (white robe). His audience is the Sangha of the Buddhist Church of Sacramento and those who watch online.

Since joining the BCA in 2011, Rev. Yuki Sugahara has amplified his Dharma talks with the same talent he used to pursue a musical career when he was in his 20s in Japan. The 44-year-old Rev. Sugahara, who became Sacramento’s Rimban in the summer of 2023, combines music with social media savvy and an openness to try new approaches to share the teachings and reach more people.

“Even though I play music as entertainment after my Dharma message, I try to connect the title or the lyrics of the songs with the Dharma so that people who listen to the music again next time might remember the Dharma I shared at the service,” he said.

One of the songs he has played in Sunday service is “Ichigo Ichie” by ukulele virtuoso Jake Shimabukuro.

“‘Ichigo Ichie’ means ‘one meeting in a lifetime.’ So I talked about treasuring the moment,” Rev. Sugahara said.

Another is “Pretender” by the rock group Foo Fighters.

“I often pretend as if I am a good person, but actually I possess afflictions within,” he said. “But Amida Buddha established the vow for people like me. So with self-reflection and gratitude, I recite the Nembutsu.”

During the COVID-19 lockdown, Rev. Sugahara, who was then at the Oregon Buddhist Temple, began live streaming a daily virtual morning service, chanting “Shoshinge” along with a Dharma talk. More recently, he records the services in advance and posts them at 8 a.m. on his YouTube page, https://www.youtube.com/@yukisugahara2259, which has more than 1,000 followers and about 100,000 views. 

The page also features videos of the songs he plays during services and by himself without an audience, how to Oshoko and chant other sutras, and of his practicing martial arts. 

A few months ago, he posted a video performing “Limelight” by the Canadian rock band Rush. It has been viewed 8,800 times and received dozens of comments.

“That's so beautiful, in every regard,” one viewer commented. “A man of faith with a devotion to music. Maybe life isn't all or nothing.”

Rev. Sugahara, who replies to every comment on his videos, said: “Thank you for your comment! Buddhism is the path of no-extremes so maybe life is not all or nothing.”

His rendition of “Portrait of Tracy” by jazz bassist Jaco Pastorius is his most popular music video, with more than 63,000 views and hundreds of comments.

"It is wonderful when ministers utilize their particular talents or interests to share the Dharma in innovative ways like Rev. Sugahara, who uses his guitar playing to enhance the services at Sacramento," said BCA Bishop Rev. Marvin Harada.

Ken Garner, a former President of the Oregon Buddhist Temple, said Oregon was at the vanguard of BCA temples using online tools thanks to Rev. Sugahara, who was a “perfect fit” for the temple.

“A young, goateed, bass-playing Buddhist priest, who loves food and IPA!  He is intellectual with an academic brain, but is able to distill basic and more esoteric aspects of Buddhism to easy to understand doses,” Garner said, adding that is a “great combination for a Jodo Shinshu priest.”

Rev. Sugahara has also implemented a number of new programs at the Sacramento Betsuin, according to temple President Karen Adachi. They include a monthly chanting class, a monthly class in Japanese on the reading of the “Tannisho,” a monthly hybrid study class and taiko for Dharma School children.

Last year, he and Rev. Matt Hamasaki, the second Resident Minister in Sacramento, began Wednesday morning services for seniors. The morning services are open to all. A shuttle bus brings seniors from a couple of assisted living facilities, according to Adachi. 

Rev. Sugahara conducts the service in Japanese and English the first Wednesday of the month and Hamasaki conducts the service the third Wednesday of the month.

“All of these new programs have been well received by our Sangha members,” Adachi said. “Reverend Yuki is very personable, and it is important to him to meet and get to know each of our Sangha members, which is appreciated by our Sangha.”

Rev. Sugahara comes from a line of ministers dating back 15 generations from both his father and mother. Korinji, the Sugahara family’s temple, is located in Oda City in Shimane prefecture.

“When I was little, I loved following my grandmother, grandfather and father around the temple,” Rev. Sugahara said.

He grew up in Tokyo, Kyoto and Kanazawa, at temples where his father was assigned. As a member of a temple family, he was able to receive his Tokudo ordination at age 16.

Music was part of his life from a young age. His first instrument was piano, but after a few years he quit because “I wasn’t good at it.” He switched to trumpet in the elementary school marching band, and finally, in ninth-grade,   to the instrument that he loves, bass guitar. 

He is self-taught, learning by watching bassists such as Billy Sheehan of Mr. Big, Gedde Lee of Rush and jazz bassists such as Jaco Pastorius, Marcus Miller, Stanley Clarke and Victor Wooten.

He owns a four-string bass, five-string bass, six-string bass, four-string fretless bass, two electric guitars, one acoustic guitar and two ukuleles. 

Rev. Sugahara is not the only musically inclined BCA minister. Rev. Harry Bridge, Resident Minister at the Buddhist Church of Oakland, is also well known for playing bass guitar.

In addition to music, Rev. Sugahara practices Eagle Claw Kung Fu and martial arts, which he started — to lose the 20 pounds he gained after coming to the United States. He also juggles.

Rev. Sugahara and wife Namiko have a 12-year-old daughter, Aoi, and a 7-year-old son, Hikaru. 

Rev. Sugahara studied political science at Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto and at one point had hoped to become a translator for the United Nations. He said he always thought he’d get his Kyoshi certification, but was prompted to do it after his mother passed away in his sophomore year.

But he preferred music to the ministry. His father said he could do anything until age 29, maybe longer — if he made it in the music business. For years, he practiced with groups each week and played about twice a month in the Tokyo area. The closest he came to “making it” was when one band got a recording contract. But the music was never released.

When he reached the age of 29, his father suggested he consider becoming a minister with an overseas district of the Hongwanji. That appealed to him, in part because he spent a year in the United States in an exchange program during high school. He said he thought he could spread the teachings using his English. 

Rev. Sugahara was part of the 2009 class of the International Ministerial Orientation Program (IMOP) and visited a number of BCA temples.

Rev. Kiyonobu Kuwahara, who supervises IMOP since its inception in 2008, recalled Rev. Sugahara as “relatively quiet, but very smart. He was eager to study and learn more” and seemed to be good at making friends, especially in social situations.

“I thought it was vibrant and more ‘genki,’” Rev. Sugahara said of what he saw at temples in the Bay Area, Sacramento and Southern California. Where many temples in Japan have small Sanghas, he noted how BCA temples have Dharma schools and more young people coming to the temple.

Rev. Sugahara was first assigned to the Florin Buddhist Temple in 2011 and then to the Oregon Buddhist Temple in 2017.

Maintaining an online presence will continue to be important for BCA temples, Rev. Sugahara said. 

“I want to try new things … something more to attract people,” he said.

At the suggestion of a Sacramento member, he and Rev. Hamasaki plan to trade off posting short Instagram videos every month. Those are the kinds of activities he believes are important to support the teaching of the Dharma.

There is another idea he’s been thinking about: Recruiting young people to start a Buddhist rock band.