YORBA LINDA
The city conferred an honorary citizenship for the first time in its history Monday. The recipient was Shinso Ito, the leader of the Shinnyo-En Buddhist group that has operated a temple in Yorba Linda for more than 10 years.
Ito, a resident of Japan, visited the city last week to preside over the Saito Homa, an ancient Buddhist fire ritual that was performed Friday and Saturday by Shinnyo-En followers for the first time in the U.S. The city presented a proclamation to Ito on Monday.
The proclamation was the city’s way of honoring Shinnyo-En, interim City Manager Daniel Miller said.
“They chose our town to perform this ceremony and honored us,” Miller said. “This is our way of thanking them.”
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