HONOLULU (KHON2) – This weekend at the Hawaii Convention Center, the 43rd annual Okinawan Festival is filling the first floor, and this year is actually a significant year.
Two major milestones are being celebrated.
125th anniversary of Okinawan immigrants to Hawaii and the 40th anniversary of the Sister-State relationship between Hawaii and Okinawa.
We are here with the Past President of the Hawaii United Okinawa Association, Lynn Miyahira, to learn more.
Can you add a little bit more to what that means?
“Sure. The 125th anniversary of Okinawan immigration to Hawaii, its a special year for us, and we are really excited to celebrate this milestone. It gives us a moment to pause and give gratitude, give thanks to our what we call Issei, the first generation who made the choice to come to Hawaii,” says Miyahira.
“So, we are doing a lot of different things with Okinawa, and you had mentioned the 40th anniversary of the Sister-State relationship. That is another big milestone for us, when we ‘officially’ became, when we had this official government relationship. But it definitely goes, the relationship is deeper than just government. We have a lot of education programs together, and just the exchange of our people is something that is really important to us.”
What does that mean when we are speaking of a Sister-State?
“The Governor of Okinawa is actually visiting this weekend to celebrate this milestone with the Sister-State relationship, and there is also a group of about 40 mayors from Okinawa coming to celebrate with us, along with educators, all kinds of entertainers from Okinawa,” says Miyahira.
“One special guest we have this year is on Sunday afternoon, she will be our finale performance, Rimi Natsukawa is an Okinawan singer, famous all throughout Asia and especially in Japan, and she is coming to close out our show on Sunday.”
People can still expect the plant sales, the stores, imported goods from Okinawa and so much more.
One thing that I want to bring to our attention is that the money that is spent here is actually going back to the Hawaii United Okinawa Association and funding programs like a Hawaii-Okinawa exchange.
“Yes, so the high school student exchange program that has been going on for about 35 years now, I participated back in 1997, dating myself a little bit, but it was a life-changing experience,” says Miyahira.
“It taught me to see things in a totally different light. It was the first time I was immersed in a different language. Like I said, it is part of the reason why I am still so involved in our Okinawan Association today, and I want to make sure that that experience is kept for future generations.”
The 43rd annual Okinawan Festival takes place Saturday and Sunday.
Both days start at 9 a.m., but 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. is the Early Bird special.
The general opening will be at 10 a.m.
Saturday will go to 5 p.m.
Sunday up until 4 p.m.
For more information, click here.