Community Focus

[caption id="attachment_20620" align="alignnone" width="696"] Jikoen Hongwanji Mission held the first of its twice-yearly barbecue chicken benefit sales on Feb. 15. After many years of having supporters park and come in to pick up their orders, temple members got innovative last year and introduced a drive-thru line with temple volunteers bringing the purchaser’s order out to....

Karleen C. Chinen About 150 people spent their Feb. 22 morning learning about why an injustice from 78 years ago is as relevant today as it was in 1942. The gathering place was the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawai‘i where a “Day of Remembrance” program organized by JCCH and the Honolulu Japanese American Citizens League....

The Omotesenke Domonkai held a Hatsugama tea ceremony in the Seiköan Tea House at the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaiʻi on Feb. 15. The ceremony commemorated the 65th anniversary of the establishment of the Hawaiʻi branch.

Close to 100 Hawaii Fukuoka Kenjin Kai members came together at the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawai‘i on Feb. 16 for the organization’s annual general meeting and New Year’s party. Special guests included former Hawai‘i Gov. George Ariyoshi and his wife Jean; Consul General of Japan Koichi Ito and his wife Misako; and, from Tökyö,....

On the evening of Feb. 20, the first birthday reception of the Reiwa Era for Emperor Naruhito was held at the Nu‘uanu residence of Koichi Ito, consul general of Japan. Three hundred eighty guests enjoyed the festivities on the lawn. They were welcomed by live music performed by the Hawaii Gagaku Society and Royal Hawaiian....

The popular Okinawan pop/folk group BEGIN will make its U.S. mainland debut in a concert set for Saturday, March 28, in Torrance, Calif. The 7:30 p.m. concert, sponsored by the Okinawa Association of America, Inc., will be held in the Marsee Auditorium on the campus of El Camino Community College (16007 Crenshaw Blvd.) in Torrance.

On Feb. 8, at the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawai‘i, Leilani Okuda was inducted into the President William McKinley High School’s Hall of Honor. She was honored for serving the softball community locally, nationally and internationally. Her many honors include:

Deidre Tegarden has rejoined Maui’s Nisei Veterans Memorial Center as executive director, a position she held from 2016 until 2018, when newly elected Maui County Mayor Michael Victorino selected her as his chief of staff. Tegarden will replace former state Sen. Jill Tokuda, who will now serve as NVMC’s director for external relations, leading the....

Jodie Chiemi Ching This year marks 120 years since the first Okinawan immigrants landed on our shores. We are bound by history and bound by aloha. Today, we turn another page by signing this special friendship city relationship with Kin Town,” said Mayor Kirk Caldwell. On Feb. 10 Mayor Caldwell met with Hajime Nakama —....

United Japanese Society of Hawaii members and supporters welcomed the “Year of the Rat” at the organization’s shinnenkai at the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawai‘i’s Manoa Grand Ballroom on Jan. 11. A moment of silence was observed to remember and honor UJSH members who have passed on. Onoe Kikunobutomi (Brandon Goda) from the Kikunobu Dance....