Community

The Hawai‘i Medical Service Association recently appointed Dr. Mark M. Mugiishi as its new president and chief executive officer. Mugiishi had been serving as interim president/CEO and chief health officer since last August. His appointment was effective Feb. 1. Dr. Mugiishi has been a general surgeon in Hawai‘i for nearly 30 years and also served....

Editor’s note: This year the local Buddhist temples will not hold Hanamatsuri services due to COVID-19. Twenty-nine-year-old Bishop Cosmo Hirai brings a young new perspective to the community. We have also added two previously published essays by Rev. David Fujimoto and Bishop Chishin Hirai because they provide insight relevant to the current struggles of the....

[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....

Karleen C. Chinen The Honpa Hongwanji Mission of Hawaii inducted its 45th “class” of “Living Treasures of Hawai‘i” on Feb. 8 at a sold-out luncheon banquet in the Coral Ballroom of the Hilton Hawaiian Village. The induction of the four — singer/composer/musician and kumu hula (hula teacher) Robert Cazimero, Hawaiian language pioneer Dr. Larry Kimura,....

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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.