Community Focus

The East Hawaii Hiroshima Kenjin Kai presented scholarships of $1,000 each to Waiäkea High School senior Meghan M.B.Y. Nagai and Hilo High School senior Kara Yoshiyama. The two were recognized for their excellence in academic, co-curricular and extracurricular achievements. Nagai, who is the daughter of Kenjin Kai members Sylvia and Michael Nagai, was a valedictorian....

Storytellers Nyla Fujii-Babb and Dann Seki to Present Their Story, “Okäsan” Jodie Chiemi Ching On Saturday, July 27, the Military Intelligence Service Veterans Club will hold a “Nisei Veterans Summer Special” event at the 100th Infantry Battalion Veterans clubhouse (520 Kamoku St., across from ‘Iolani School) from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. The event is....

Saigusa-Sensei presented sumie student Stephanie Pauling with her Beginner Certificate of Achievement. Pauling, a student at Makua Alii, has been learning sumie drawing for five years. “For the first two months I painted bamboo leaves, hundreds of them,” Pauling said. She said she learned over the years that, “It is the kimochi (feeling) we must....

“Remembrance, Honor & Celebration” was the theme of the Oahu AJA Baseball League’s annual awards banquet on April 26 at Natsunoya Tea House. The event also celebrated the league’s victory in the 84th Annual Hawaii State AJA Baseball Championship Tournament, which was played at the Francis Wong Stadium in Hilo on April 6 to 7.....

Members of the Kuakini Auxiliary and Kuakini Health System’s administration team honored former Issei residents of Kuakini Home at a memorial ceremony on May 28. The service was held at the Kuakini Columbarium at the Honolulu Memorial Park in Nu‘uanu in conjunction with the obon season. Most of the 141 Issei interred in the columbarium....

Jodie Chiemi Ching Former Gov. George Ariyoshi was inducted into the Hawai‘i State Aloha Order of Merit –– one of the state’s highest honors –– on April 29, in the Senate chambers of the State Capitol. In a press release from the Office of the Governor, it states, “The Aloha Order of Merit was established....

The Japanese Cultural Center of Hawai‘i will honor five individuals and one organization at its annual “Sharing the Spirit of Aloha” gala on Saturday, June 22, at the Hilton Hawaiian Village, Coral Ballroom. Being honored this year are Coach Gerald Oda and the 2018 Honolulu Little League World Series Team; Lenn Sakata, the first player....

The 50th anniversary of Okinawa’s Mitsufumi Ryu Taiko Hozon Kai was celebrated in Hawai‘i on April 14 with an exciting and colorful taiko, music and dance performance in the Hawaii Okinawa Center’s Albert T. and Wallace T. Teruya Pavilion. Titled “Hawaii ni Hibiku Uchina De-ku (Echoes of Uchina De-ku in Hawaii),” the program featured performances....

The Hawaii United Okinawa Association recognized the 2018 “Uchinanchu of the Year” (highlighted in the Herald’s Feb. 15 edition) and installed its 2019 officers on Jan. 19 at the Hawaii Okinawa Center. Students from Hawaii Okinawa Creative Arts opened the program with a lively Shishimai dance. Among the 900 people in attendance were Gov. David....

The Honolulu Hiroshima Kenjin Kai held its annual membership meeting and shinnen enkai on March 10 at the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawai‘i’s Manoa Grand Ballroom. Kenjinkai president Wayne Miyao presided over the general membership meeting. He said it was an honor and a privilege to serve as president and to continue the kenjinkai’s efforts....