February 3, 2017

DEAR FRANCES By Frances H. Kakugawa Dear Readers, Do you remember my friend Mabs? I told you about her in my March 4 column, “Mabs’ Journey.” Mabs continues to attend my Memoir Writing Group, even though her Alzheimer’s disease is beginning to take its toll. By our last session, I had become a stranger to....

GENERATION GAP by Jon J. Murakami

The Honolulu Japanese Chamber of Commerce celebrated the arrival of the “Year of the Rooster” at its 72nd annual shinnen enkai (New Year’s banquet). The Jan. 6 event at the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawai‘i attracted a sold-out audience of 410 people, including HJCC members, their families and friends. The shinnen enkai is traditionally a....

Kevin Kawamoto Special to The Hawai‘i Herald The multicultural identity of a community is often reflected in its publicly visible art and architecture, and few objects are more distinctively East Asian than the guardian lions positioned at the entrance to buildings or passages. These imposing beasts usually come in pairs — one on the left....

MEDICARE 411 By Greg Dill

WHO/WHAT: The long-awaited release of “An Internment Odyssey: Haisho Tenten,” written by Suikei Furuya and translated by Tatsumi Hayashi, will be released by the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawai‘i. The book chronicles Furuya’s World...

Cullen T. Hayashida Special to The Hawai‘i Herald Several years ago, a good friend of mine told me that he was now 65 years old, on Social Security and retired. He said he expected to live at least another 20 years or so, but did not know what to do with his life. It felt....

WHO/WHAT: The Leeward Theatre will present three newly commissioned plays as part of its children’s theatre season. “Plantation Plays” will feature works by local playwrights Kiki, Courtney Takabayashi and Kirstyn Trombetta. Ashley DeMoville, a...

by Rev. Paul S. Osumi Reprinted with permission Never Trouble Trouble There was a woman who for 50 years had the habit of looking under her bed every night for a burglar. If she had found one...

DIALOGUE BY Karleen C. Chinen Are you familiar with this century-old Japanese children’s song, “Furusato?” I’d heard the melody before, but I didn’t know the lyrics or what they meant until I attended a Honolulu Fukushima Kenjin Kai event late last year at which there was group singing of this song. Fortunately for me, the....