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RECENT EVENTS
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Students from Punahou School, one winning school from this year’s Japan Wizards Academic Team Competition, toured Tokyo G-Cans (Metropolitan Area Outer Underground Discharge Channel) floodwater control facility in Saitama Prefecture, Japan, on June 10, 2008. Touring G-Cans provided an opportunity for these Hawaii high school students to see how Japan is using high technology to solve its environmental and social issues. G-Cans is an expansive concrete underground water reservoir created to control flooding in the Tokyo metropolitan area caused by heavy downpours during Japan’s typhoon season. The facility uses huge pumps to discharge up to 200 tons of water per second into the Edo River for eventual discharge into the ocean when danger from flooding has receded. The Japan-America Society of Hawaii arranged this visit, a new initiative this year to expose Japan Wizards winners to Japanese high technology use.
Punahou School Japan Wizards winning team—Susan Tan, Kelsey Ige, Kaitlin Kogachi, and advisor Jan Asato listen to an explanation about G-Cans’ use of high-tech systems from a G-Cans guide
Students tour the massive underground concrete water storage facilities while a G-cans employee explains its operation
Visits to places like G-cans show Hawaii’s students how other countries and societies use high technology solutions to deal with every-day issues. The goal of this program is to inspire students to look for ways to deal with problems and issues in Hawaii and in the United States. The mission of the Japan-America Society of Hawaii is to help the community grow and prosper through a strong US-Japan relationship, and educational and cross-cultural programs such as the Japan trip reward for Japan Wizards Competition winners are designed to help achieve this goal.
Schools and students interested in competing in the annual Japan Wizards Academic Team Competition or taking advantage of other educational and cross-cultural programs sponsored by the Japan-America Society of Hawaii are welcome to look at its website at www.jashawaii.org under “Educational Programs” and “Opportunities” where you will find applications and contact information.
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Twenty members of the Japan-America Society of Hawaii (JASH) Tomodachi Committee, JASH members and their guests toured Hawaii’s Plantation Village in Waipahu on June 13, 2008. English and Japanese speaking docents gave the visitors a tour of the premises, interspersed with stories steeped in history, sometimes humorous.
The Hawaii Plantation Village is a collection of structures and typical homes of several ethnic groups that were once employed by the sugar plantation industry in Hawaii. It is, in essence, an outdoor museum that tells of plantation life in the late 1800s to early 1900s and exhibits strong ties to the Hawaii we still know today. Docents explained that the first Hawaii sugar plantation was established in 1835 and mostly depended upon the native labor workforce to help run their business. As more foreigners arrived in the islands, new diseases were introduced to these people and the native population began to decline. The plantation owners then looked to China, the Madeira Islands of Portugal, Japan (including Okinawa), Puerto Rico, Korea, and the Philippines to help boost up their supply of labor. The plantation recognizes and preserves the history of the major contribution these early immigrants made to Hawaii’s development.
The JASH Tomodachi Committee organizes periodic outings to a place of interest in Hawaii, both historically or culturally significant, to provide opportunities for its members and guests to learn about Hawaii’s past and to enjoy the many cultural and historical places Hawaii has to offer. Please contact the JASH office at 524-4450 for more information or if you’re interested in participating in any of our events.
JASH members and guests receive a personalized tour from Hawaii Plantation Village docent in Wahiawa
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On Saturday, June 7, Japan-America Society of Hawaii (JASH) hosted members of the visiting Miyakonojo Japan-America Society and participated in a Waikiki Beach cleanup and a picnic at Kakaako Park. Early that morning, about 40 JASH staff and members joined Miyakonojo Society President Dr. Toshisuke Matsuura and his members at Duke Kahanamoku statue at Waikiki Beach to team with the Waikiki Improvement Association’s Ohana Work Force to walk the beaches of Waikiki and pick up trash. The Miyakonojo Society has been coming to Honolulu for 12 consecutive years to provide this community service to the City and County of Honolulu and the people of Hawaii. The Hilton Hawaiian Village prepared a continental breakfast for the many volunteers who came, which numbered in the several hundreds. JASH Directors Peter Schall, Mike Leineweber, Dan Dinnell, and Takashi Yamaoka as well as several APCC Junior Ambassadors and their families also lent their support by attending the event.
JASH staff and members comb the beach for trash
Following the beach cleanup, Miyakonojo guests were taken to Kakaako Waterfront Park to first clean the Ehime Maru Memorial and then to Ala Moana Boulevard to watch the 92nd annual King Kamehameha Celebration Parade. Following the parade, the JASH staff cooked up a BBQ lunch for all participants. As one attendee noted, “Seeing our members from Hawaii meet and get to know their counterparts in Japan is a wonderful opportunity to see how we are carrying out the mission of promoting friendships between the peoples of Japan and Hawaii.”
Past JASH President Okawa and members of the Japan-America Society of Miyakonojo
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On Friday, June 6, the Hilton Hawaiian Village (HHV) Resort & Spa hosted JASH members and guests at a Hawaii 5:01 reception. The Rainbow Suite that overlooks the newly renovated lagoon was a great venue for welcoming our friends from the America-Japan Society of Miyakonojo, Society members, and other guests, and reconnecting with familiar faces. This is the 12th year in a row that Miyakonojo Society President Dr. Toshisuke Matsuura and his fellow members have come to Honolulu to participate in the Waikiki Beach Cleanup, which was held the following day. During the evening, attendees were treated to an array of delicious foods prepared by the resort’s chefs. Open bars were also provided and live Hawaiian music filled the air throughout the evening.
HHV Director of Guest Services Bert Momotomi welcomes 5:01 crowd
The event also saw the introduction of the eight Asian-Pacific Children’s Convention Junior Ambassadors who performed a hula. They will travel to Fukuoka next month to attend a global youth camp and enjoy home stays with Japanese host families.
Located on Waikiki’s widest stretch of beach, the Hilton Hawaiian Village Resort & Spa features lush tropical gardens, waterfalls, exotic wildlife, and priceless artwork. As Waikiki’s only true resort, the HHV offers guests the “Village Experience”: a perfect blend of luxurious accommodations, over 20 restaurants and lounges, shopping, recreational and cultural activities, nightly entertainment and more. Hawaii 5:01 is a networking program for our Society’s corporate and life members to meet new friends, renew acquaintances, and introduce potential members to the Society.
2008 APCC Junior Ambassadors perform the hula for gathered crowd at Hilton Hawaiian Village 5:01
Mahalo to the Hilton Hotels Corporation in Hawaii for once again hosting a wonderful reception. HHV has continued to sponsor a Hawaii 5:01 networking reception for the members and guests of JASH for 12 consecutive years.
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On May 27, 2008, Honolulu hosted Dr. Robert “Skipp” Orr, former President of Boeing Japan, current Chairman of the Panasonic Foundation in the U.S., and Vice Chairman of the National Association of Japan-America Societies. The Japan-America Society of Hawaii cosponsored this event with the Honolulu Japanese Chamber of Commerce, Friends of the East West Center, Pacific and Asian Affairs Council, and Pacific Forum CSIS. Over a luncheon held at the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii’s Manoa Grand Ballroom, Dr. Orr talked about how various components of Japanese society (political, business, military and ordinary citizens) view the upcoming elections. Dr. Orr had just spent time in Japan visiting various cities on a U.S. Embassy sponsored program to discuss the elections. Weaving history with personal insights gained through 23 years of experience in Japan both as an academic and in the business world, Dr. Orr first gave a fascinating review of how Japan viewed U.S. electio ns since they began monitoring them at the turn of the 20th Century with the campaign of Theodore Roosevelt. Dr. Orr kept the audience spellbound with his detailed account of U.S. and Japanese figures set in historical context, showing how the Japanese perspectives of the U.S. election process greatly influenced their actions in both pre-war and post-war years, leading up to today. He ended the talk with his own personal insights as an advisor to the current Obama campaign on how the Japanese society views U.S. candidates and what it would mean to the Japanese if a candidate were successfully elected. The audience, including Pacific Command Foreign Policy Advisor Ambassador Gene Christy, EWC’s Director of East-West Seminars Ambassador Ray Burghardt, and Consul Yoshitaka Yamada and Vice Consul Kuniko Nakamura of the Japanese Consulate kept Dr. Orr engaged during a lively question and answer period.
Dr. Orr responds to a question and makes a point to the captivated audience
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Past Events 2008
Past Events 2007
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