Members of the Chado Urasenke Tankokai Hawaii Association ushered in 2020 — the Year of the Rat — with a Hatsudate Shiki, or first tea of the year on Jan. 19 at the Seikoan Tea House at the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawai’i. Miharu Oba (brown kimono) was the officiating teishu (tea ceremony host) with her assistant and narrator, or hanto, Miharu Ooba (pink kimono). Guests from left: Dr. Satoru Izutsu, Akemi Kurokawa and his wife Misako, and Sojin Murata.

Community Focus – Urasenke Hawaii Celebrates the “Year of the Rat”

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The 2020 cast and producers of the “Shoko Shiranami Gonin Otoko” performance. Kneeling in front is the Kojyo played by Neal Yokota. Standing behind the Kojyo, from left to right producers Ronald Ushijima and Rika Hirata, Meakashi Kingoro (Kurt Murao), Akaboshi Jyuzaburo (Ina Chang), Tadanobu Rihei (Kristine Wada), Benten Kozo Kikunosuke (Jill Kuramoto), Nippon Daemon (Brian Kealoha), and producers Robert Nagao and Gregg Mueller. Standing in back, Nango Rikimaru (Jacce Mikulanec).

“Shoko Shiranami Gonin Otoko” Play Highlights 2020 HJCC Shinnen Enkai

The Honolulu Japanese Chamber of Commerce welcomed the Year of the Rat with its 75th annual shinnen enkai (New Year’s banquet) on Jan. 24 at the Sheraton Waikiki. About 400 HJCC members and their family and friends attended the event. The shinnen enkai is always well attended, with people enjoying fellowship and the introduction of....
The Hawaii United Okinawa Association’s 2019 “Uchinanchu of the Year.”

Herald Salutes

Hui O Laulima recently awarded cultural grants totaling $10,000 to 10 organizations and individuals for projects aimed at promoting and perpetuating Okinawan culture. Hui O Laulima is a nonprofit women’s organization and an active member of the Hawaii United Okinawa Association. The grants were awarded to:
HUOA’s 2020 president Lynn Miyahira: “. . . I talk to my fellow fourth generation, fifth generation, sometimes sixth generation Uchinanchus — it’s up to us to keep this going.”(Photo by David Shimabukuro/One Moment In Time)

Community – Lynn Miyahira Thanks “Village” That Raised Her

HUOA’s 2020 President Looks Ahead to a Year of Milestone Anniversaries Lynn Miyahira Published with Permission I am so honored to be here today. So, Governor David Ige, First Lady Dawn Amano Ige, fellow Gajanchu (members of Miyahira’s ancestral village club, Gaza Yonagusuku Doshi Kai), Mayor Kirk Caldwell, Consul General Koichi Ito and Mrs. Ito,....
The Rev. Akihiro Okada of the Daijingu Temple in Nuuanu performed a Shintö blessing of Japanese Cultural Center of Hawai‘i leaders and others in the martial arts dojo at the start of the Jan. 12 festival. The blessing also included the partaking of sake by JCCH president/executive director Jacce Mikulanec and board chair Ken Hayashida; Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell; Mrs. Misako Ito, representing her husband Consul General of Japan in Honolulu Koichi Ito; and Kevin Asano, one of four Japanese American Olympians from Hawai‘i. Asano captured a gold medal in the 1988 Olympic Games in judo.

In Our Community – JCCH Ohana Festival Shines Through Rain and Clouds

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Barry Taniguchi and John Masuhara

Big Island Community Focus – Hilo High School Foundation to Honor Taniguchi and Masuhara

The Hilo High School Foundation will present its Distinguished Alumni Awards to Barry Taniguchi and John Masuhara, posthumously, at the foundation’s 10th annual Recognition Dinner. The dinner will be held Friday, Feb. 28, beginning at 5:30 p.m. in the Honpa Hongwanji Hilo Betsuin Sangha Hall.
After a 10-year absence, Naalehu Hongwanji Mission on Hawai‘i Island opened its doors to the public last Aug. 31 and observed obon with a bon dance. Members of Hongwanji’s Hilo, Pahala, Kona and Kohala temples, along with Kona Jr. YBA members, helped the Naalehu Hongwanji members set up the grounds and also participated in the festival to welcome home the spirits of deceased loved ones . . . even in the pouring rain!

Big Island Community Focus – Bon Dance Returns to Naalehu Hongwanji Mission

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Katsu Kobayakawa Goto (1862-1889).

Issei History – Katsu Goto, Honoring the Legacy of a Hero

Hamakua Jodo Mission Working to Preserve History  Jodie Chiemi Ching  The Hamakua Jodo Mission, in Pa‘auhau Mauka on Hawai‘i Island, was the first sanctioned Buddhist temple in the state of Hawai‘i. It was built in 1896 at the epicenter of the five sugar plantations on the island, and served the community of Japanese contract laborers.....
Illustration by Arthur Kodani

A Sense of Place – “A Small Obligation and Other Stories of Hilo”

Susan Nunes From “A Small Obligation and Other Stories of Hilo,” Published with Permission Editor’s note: The following short stories by Susan Miho Nunes are set in her hometown of Hilo on Hawaii Island. They were published in 1982 in her book, “A Small Obligation and Other Stories of Hilo,” by Bamboo Ridge Press. Nunes....
Illustration by Arthur Kodani

A Sense of Place – “Hilo Rains”

Juliet S. Kono From “Hilo Rains,” Republished with Permission Editor’s note: “Hilo Rains,” Juliet Kono Lee’s first book of poetry, was published in 1988 by Bamboo Ridge Press. The poems draw on Kono’s and her family’s...

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