Spotlight

The 66th Cherry Blossom Festival got its official kick-off on Jan. 14 with the introduction of the 15 queen contestants at the New Year’s ‘Ohana Festival, presented by the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawai‘i. The Cherry Blossom Festival is sponsored annually by the Honolulu Japanese Junior Chamber of Commerce. This year’s festival theme is Inspire.....

SPOTLIGHT BY Karleen C. Chinen Pamela Rotner Sakamoto came to understand the invaluable, but secret, work that soldiers in the Military Intelligence Service performed in World War II while writing her own book, “Midnight in Broad Daylight: A Japanese American Family Caught Between Two Worlds,” about the family of MIS veteran Harry Fukuhara. So when....

Hui Makaala held its 48th annual Scholarship Fund Luncheon and Fashion Show on July 30 at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Coral Ballroom. The show featured fashions by three Hawai‘i designers — Allison Izu, Janice Tsujimura and Jeanie Chun. The audience was also treated to a program of cultural entertainment that included Okinawan dances by Hooge....

SPOTLIGHT BY Karleen C. Chinen Beloved Hawai‘i astronaut Ellison Onizuka’s 71st birthday was remembered and celebrated on June 24 with the opening of “The Ellison Onizuka Remembrance” at the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawai‘i. The collection is now part of the center’s “Okage Sama De: I am what I am because of you” permanent exhibit.....

Hooge Ryu Hana Nuuzi no Kai Nakasone Dance Academy will celebrate its 61st anniversary with a grand dance program this fall. The Okinawan dance school was started by Lynne Yoshiko Nakasone shortly after she immigrated to Hawai‘i as the young bride of Clarence Tomokazu Nakasone. Over the decades Nakasone-Sensei has passed on the art to....

The Japanese Cultural Center of Hawai‘i recognized six individuals, organizations and volunteers at its annual “Sharing the Spirit of Aloha” gala on June 17 at the Hilton Hawaiian Village, Coral Ballroom. The honorees were recognized for their dedication to culture and the arts, commitment to the promotion of Japanese culture, contributions to the community, leadership....

“Kagirinaki Yume (Boundless Dreams)” was the theme of the 37th fashion show presented by the Japanese Women’s Society Foundation on May 6 at the Prince Waikiki. The event was a fundraiser for the organization’s scholarship program and other gerontology-related projects, including Kuakini Home. The program was emceed by Japanese Cultural Center of Hawai‘i board chair....

The Honolulu Hiroshima Kenjin Kai held its annual membership meeting and shinnen enkai on March 12 at Natsunoya Tea House. Also in attendance was a delegation from Hiroshima, including Hiroshima’s Goodwill Ambassadors. Kenjinkai president Wayne Miyao convened a general membership meeting prior to the lunch and entertainment portion of the program, calling on the various....

Sixteen years ago, the USS Greeneville, a nuclear-powered submarine practicing a high-speed surfacing maneuver off O‘ahu’s south shore, struck the Ehime Maru, an Uwajima Fisheries High School training ship from Ehime, Japan, puncturing a hole in its hull. Within minutes, the ship began to sink. The Feb. 9, 2001, tragedy took the lives of nine....

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...