Culture

Tom Yamamoto Special to The Hawai‘i Herald Thirty years ago, an innovative idea became a reality: to create an exchange program for students to learn firsthand about diverse cultures, fostering their global awareness and sense of...

The Hawaii United Okinawa Association will livestream a commemoration of Irei no Hi, or Okinawa’s Memorial Day, on Monday, June 22, on its Facebook page and YouTube channel from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

WHO/WHAT: Tsuru for Solidarity will host a virtual protest for its one-year anniversary. The online, two-day educational event renews the demand to stop cruelly imprisoning families in detention and concentration centers. Register here: tsuruforsolidarity.org/tsururising WHEN/WHERE:  Saturday, June 6,...

Rev. Bert Sumikawa Helps Descendants Honor Ancestors at the Bellows Japanese Cemetery Gregg K. Kakesako Special to The Hawai‘i Herald This year, obon — the 500-year-old Japanese Buddhist custom honoring ancestors’ spirits — will deepen Ann Nakata’s connection with her family roots. Just two months ago, 72-year-old Nakata, a retired Kapahulu florist, discovered she had....

The annual Shinnyo Lantern Floating Hawaii event attracts over 40,000 people to Ala Moana Beach Park from around the world every year. However, this year, due to concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic, the festival...

Around mid-April, The Hawai‘i Herald starts calling Japanese Buddhist temples and community organizations across the state. And this issue would normally include a four-page pull-out section filled with information including Hatsubon and obon services, Töro nagashi (lantern floating) and bon dance festivals. Regretfully, this is the first summer in decades that the schedule seems up....

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Young Students Learn to Be Mindful In A Fast-Moving World Jodie Chiemi Ching The tradition of Chadö, or the Way of Tea, is a practice of cultivating harmony, respect, purity and tranquility. These are universal principles that can help ease some of the anxiety caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Last fall, I visited a children’s....

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....