April 16, 2000
Source: Los Angeles Times
On April 16, 2000, the Los Angeles Times reported that the Shinnyo-en temple in Yorba Linda, California hosted the first Saito Homa fire ritual in the United States on Sunday, April 16th. Temple official Naruhiko Yoshida stated: "It is a great opportunity for people who live here to be a part of this...It is wonderful to see people from this country, Europe and Japan, from all over the world, harmonizing in front of Buddha." Dating back to the 9th century, Saito Homa is a fire ritual and prayer for world peace that is conducted annually in Japan.