My father, Jiro Higa, a very active member, was the contractor who built the Jikoen temple on Houghtailing Street in 1938. In 1935, he also built the temple in Lahaina, which explains why Jikoen and the Lahaina Hongwanji are alike in structure. To save money, Rev. Yamasato asked him to use the same plan that he had drawn for the Lahaina temple.

There were eight children in my family and I was the middle child. I later went to Okinawa to live with my grandparents. My father later built tombstones and lived in Palolo, Kapalama, and Akepo Lane.

I met my husband, Takeo Teruya, maintenance chair of Jikoen, in Okinawa. We got married there and returned to Hawaii.