Koloa Jodo Mission - Buddhist Temple Since 1910
I have been intersted in everything about "World" since I first learned World Geography. I still have that textbook with me (I've brougt it here from Japan) and it said the world population was 4.3 billion in 1984 (data was as of 1979.)
As you know, the world population enormously increased after that. It's about 7 billion now and there is an interesting website, called "Current Population Clock" to estimate the current pouplations of the United States and the World. According to the site, the pouplation of the United States as of April 5, 2013 @17:29 UTC (EST+5), is estimaetd to be 315,618,938.
I believe it has little meaning to check it everyday but it has more meaning to realize how many people are there in "Our world" once in a while.
For example, pouplation of Kaua'i. How many population do you guess?
According the 2010 Census, population of County of Kaua'i was 67,091, whereas it was 51,177 people in 1990(Census 1990), according to the Data Book.
Since I'm also intersted in statistics, I have gathered Census Information together to take a look at transitions of Kaua'i pouplation in 20 years.
|
County of Kaua'i |
1990 Census* |
2000 Census |
2010 Census |
|
Total population / County of Kaua'i |
51,177 |
58,463 |
67,091
|
|
One Race |
|
44,525 (76.2%) |
50,375 (75.1%) |
|
White |
17,712 (34.6%) |
17,255 (29.5%) |
22,159 (33%) |
|
Black or African American |
211 (0.4%) |
177 (0.3%) |
278 (0.4%) |
|
American Indian and Alaska Native |
178 |
212 (0.4%) |
254 (0.4%) |
|
Asian |
32,093 (62%) |
21,042 (36%) |
21,016 (31.3%) |
|
Asian Indian |
|
47 (0.1%) |
99 (0.1%) |
|
Chinese |
810 (0.3%) |
478 (0.7%) |
490 (0.7%) |
|
Filipino |
12,709 (24.8%) |
11,195 (19.1%) |
12,108 (18%) |
|
Japanese |
10,242 (20%) |
7,456 (12.8%) |
6,264 (9.3%) |
|
Korean |
204 (0.3%) |
149 (0.3%) |
147 (0.2%) |
|
Vietnamese |
21 |
35 (0.1%) |
84 (0.1%) |
|
Other Asian [1] |
|
1,682 (2.9%) |
1,824 (2.7%) |
|
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander |
|
5,334 (9.1%) |
6,060 (9.0%)
|
|
Native Hawaiian |
7,736 (15.1%) |
4,935 (8.4%) |
5,097 (7.6%) |
|
Guamanian or Chamorro |
|
22 ( - %) |
32 ( - %)
|
|
Samoan |
64 (0.1%) |
82 (0.1%) |
101 (0.2%) |
|
Other Pacific Islander [2] |
307 (0.5%) |
295 (0.5%) |
830 (1.2%) |
|
Some Other Race |
983 (1.9%) |
505 (0.9%) |
608 (0.9%) |
These are just numbers for those who are not interested in statistics. But these numbers could tell many things about the situations of what is Kaua'i today and maybe, future, too.
For example, the trafic on Kauai. It has become worse and worse because of many more people on Kauai according to the Census. And for me, racical makeup, especially the percentage of pure Japanese decendants, was very interesting. It is dramatically decreasing in these 20 years. In 1990, 20% of Kaua'i pouplation was Japanese, but now it's less than 10% and I can predict easily it will be much less in 2020.
I believe this is a good tendency of melting pot which could bring more peace in this island, but at the same time, I knew it was no wonder Japanese Buddhist temples were having hard time to maintain the membership.
Then what kind of starategy shoud I have? How can I cope with current situation? I'm not so sure, but, there is one thing I am sure..... I will never give up spreading important teachings. Because I'm a Buddhist minister, they are mostly Buddhism. But I don't want to stick to the religion. There are actually very important teachings from cultures. They are sometimes productions of Western cultures and sometimes Eastern cultures. And sometimes, they are mixed cultures. Because I have higher awarness and higher goal, I'd like to share what is important with you.
I appreciate your time reading this.
By the way, 1990 Census Data was from the following book.
State of Hawaii, The Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism
Data Book 1998 - A Statistical Abstract (Honolulu, 1999)
Though it was old, but the information was so interesting. I hope I could get latest revision of the book.
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