Gregg Takara Recognized

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Incoming WUB Hawaii President, Gregg Takara, has been making the news. Congratulations Gregg!

Meg Obenauf, Gregg Takara, Rhonda Griswold, and Alan Okamoto

The Trust for Public Land: Congratulations to our long-time Hawaiʻi Advisory Board member and environmental champion, Gregg Takara, on being honored with the Hawaii Community Foundation‘s Outstanding Professional Advisor in Philanthropy award! We are so grateful to have your guidance and support all these years.

 

Celebrating the acquisition of 2,900 acres for the Helemano Wilderness Recreation Area,

Mahalo to Governor David Ige, the State Forestry & Wildlife Div, Senator Donovan Dela Cruz, Representative Lei Learmont, the U.S.D.A. Forest Legacy Program, the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Habitat Conservation Plan Land Acquisition Program, Kawailoa Wind Project and D.E. Shaw, the State Legacy Land Conservation Program, Dole Food Company, and Andres Albano Jr RL Est Devlopr and our own Hawaiian Islands Advisory Board (shout out to Gregg Takara) for making possible the purchase ($15.1 million!) and protection of nearly 2,900 acres of land in Central O`ahu, the Helemano Wilderness Recreation Area, for watershed protection, forest and habitat restoration, and recreation (camping, hiking, hunting).

Gregg Takara with Gov. David Ige

 

 

 

Gov. Denny Tamaki – WUB Network Honorary President

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WUB Network President Steve Sombrero and Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki

WUB Netwrok is happy and honored to announce that Mr. Denny Tamaki, Governor of Okinawa, has officially accepted to be WUB Network Honorary President.

On behalf of all WUB members, outgoing WUB Network  President, Steve Sombrero,  presented a letter of request to Governor Denny and he accepted it at the meeting.
Vice Governor, Mr. Tomikawa, also joined the meeting which made us even happier.

Governor Denny is very approachable and values WUB’s worldwide network.

Mariko Kuniyoshi
WUB Network, secretary
WUB Network website

 

Gov. Denny Tamaki meeting with WUB officers

Shaka!  WUB Network President Steve Sombrero and Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki

 

 

Summary of October 25 Meeting – Ballot Questions

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Prof. Colin Moore

We had a great speaker, UH Prof. Colin Moore, at the October General Membership meeting that provided insights supported by data. Thank you Robert Arakaki for securing Dr. Moore as our speaker.

With regard to the Constitutional Convention question, he handed out the “Citizens’ Jury Statement for the Constitutional Conventional Ballot Question” (see attached) that provides results of a new voter education process involving a small group of Hawai’i citizens conducted early fall, 2018. Results were 12 of 18 jury member supported holding the Con-Con and my observations are the opposition might have a larger media voice.

The statement could also provide a road map to improve the Constitutional Convention process and respond to concerns.

For more information on the voter education process:
http://www.publicpolicycenter.hawaii.edu/projects-programs/con-con-citizens-jury.html

With regard to the City Charter question on HART (Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation), the “yes” vote is intended to mean improving oversight and decision making. Many are concerned that this question is not being adequately explained and in jeopardy of not passing.

Be an informed voter and understand what each question means. And also remember a blank vote is a “no” vote. Visit: https://elections.hawaii.gov/voters/constitutional-and-charter-amendment-questions/

John Toguchi
President, WUB Hawai’i

WUB in South America – 2018

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Working the Net Together

In August 2018, a group of WUB Hawaii delegates traveled to Brazil to attend WUB Network’s 22 anniversary conference and to take part in the 118th anniversary of the arrival of immigrants from Okinawa to Brazil. Through these visits the worldwide network among Uchinanchus is strengthen through friendship and collaboration.  Below are some pictures of this visit.

L to R: Jin-kichi Uezu, John Tasato, Issamu Teruya, Julie Higa, and John Toguchi

At the Brazil Okinawa Festival, held at Villa Carrao, August 4 and 5, 2018, the Hawaii delegation got to meet with Jin-Kichi Uezu, President of WUB Okinawa, and Issamu Teruya, President of Cofema, distributor of construction materials and supplies.

 

L to R: Kenji Oshiro, John Tasato, and Yuichiro Harry Masuda

Goodwill Ambassador meeting.  At left is Kenji Oshiro, President of WUB Brazil and WUB Network’s next president (term begins 2019), John Tasato, and EWC grantee Harry Masuda.  Harry is wearing the distinctive Okinawa-inspired Bokunen Naka block-print shirt.

 

WUB Network Cake.  The golden ’22’ on the cake celebrates twenty-two years of WUB’s existence

The WUB Network meeting was held at Churrascaria Nova Pampa, a Brazilian BBQ restaurant.  WUB Brasil’s website

 

Steve Kishaba Sombrero with Carla Taba, President and owner of Invel Goen3

 

Carla Taba is President and owner of Invel’s subsidiary in Orlando, Brazil — Invel Goen3. The company sells products made from materials that increases circulation, combines Japanese technology and research with Brazilian fashion.  She is married to Mario Hirata. This is one of the companies WUB visited. Carla’s Linked in

 

Steve Kishaba Sombrero with Issamu Teruya and his wife.

Steve presenting Issamu Teruya and his wife with a plaque from WUB Network after our visit at Cofema.

CNPJ M.N TERUYA COMERCIAL DE FERRAMENTAS LTDA COFEMA ATACADISTA

 

 

Contemporary Okinawan Artist – Bokunen Naka

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As in the past, Okinawa’s distinctive and vibrant artistic tradition continues to thrive.

When I first saw Harry Masuda’s shirt I did not give it much attention thinking it was just another Hawaiian aloha shirt, but when I took a closer look I realized that it was quite different in style and design.  His girl friend, Shiori Yamauchi, also studying at the East-West Center, had just bought the shirt at a museum in Okinawa.  It was only after asking more questions that I learned about Bokunen Naka and about Okinawa’s thriving contemporary artistic tradition.

EWC student Yuichiro Harry Masuda modeling a Bokunen Naka designed shirt

 

Close up of Bokunen Naka designed shirt made from wood block prints

Artist Bokunen Naka

Bokunen Naka was born on the island of Izena (Iheya) in 1953 – also the birthplace of King Sho En (1415).  As a child he always carried a sketchbook with him and made sketches of Okinawa’s creatures and landscape.  At the time he thought he would grow up to be a carpenter or fisherman.  One of his teachers recognized his talent and recommended he attend an art-based high school on the island of Okinawa.  Bokunen Naka gained recognition from his wood block prints.

He describes his wood block print:

Once the woodblock is finished, I spread black ink on the surface of the wood, and then press it against the paper. The black and white print is a mirror image of the carving in the wood. I then turn the paper over and paint in the colors on the back of the paper. This reverse coloring technique gives the process its name: uratesaishoku.

 

Iheya/Izena Island – birthplace of Bokunen Naka (1953) and King Sho En (1415)  source

 

Bokunen Art Museum in Mihama American Village, Chatan, Okinawa, Japan

 

“Daishoenkan” depicting Bokunen Naka’s impression of the world beneath the sea source

 

Bokunen Naka block print     Source

Recommended Readings

Bokunen Naka Official Website

Woodblock Artist Naka Bokunen – 10 years on

Iheya Island/Izena Island – Okinawa Island Guide

 

 

Greeting Miyakojima Students

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In August 2018, a group of middle school and high school students from Miyakojima Island spent a few days in Hawaii to improve their English and learn about Hawaii and American culture.

East-West Center student Yuicihi Harry Masuda and I drove over to the Hawaii Tokai International College out in Kapolei to greet the students and give them a box of ono Leonard’s malasadas.

Robert Arakaki and Yuichi Harry Masuda with Miyakojima students. We gave them a box of ono Leonard’s malasadas.

The Ryukyu Kingdom (present day Okinawa prefecture) comprised many islands and multiple languages.  The Miyakoan language also Sumafutsu is a language distinct from Nihongo (the language of mainland Japan) and Uchinaaguchi (the language of Okinawa island).  Where the people of Okinawa island say “nifedebiru” for “thank you,” the people of Miyakojima say “tandigatandi.”  Since coming under Japanese administration, the indigenous language of Miyakojima has been slowly dying out.  Today most people in Miyakojima below the age of 60 do not speak Sumafutsu.

Originally from mainland Japan, Harry Masuda moved to Okinawa and learned about Okinawa’s distinctive culture and history.  When he attempted to speak to the Miyakojima students in their mother tongue, they waved their hands in embarrassment saying that they spoke Japanese.  This cultural and linguistic assimilation presents a serious challenge to the future of Uchinanchu identity in the Uchinanchu/Shimanchu homeland as well among the  worldwide Uchinanchu diaspora.

Note: “Uchinanchu” means “people of Uchina or Okinawa Island.”  “Shimanchu” means “island people” implying those who belong to the Ryukyus but not necessarily Okinawa Island.

See “Okinawa’s Endangered Languages” also published on the WUB Hawaii website.

 

 

Gov. Takeshi Onaga 1950-2018

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Gov. Onaga at 20th WUB Network Conference 2016  Credit: WUB Hawaii

Takeshi Onaga, the governor of Okinawa, passed away on 8 August 2018 from complications of pancreatic cancer.

He was born in 1950 in Naha into a  political family. His father, Josei, was mayor of Naha at the time of his birth. Although his mother discouraged him from following in his father’s footsteps, Onaga decided, while in elementary school, that he wanted to become a politician. When he studied at Hosei University in Tokyo, Onaga needed a passport from American-occupied Okinawa to enter mainland Japan.

Onaga was a rare conservative politician who stood up to the leaders of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party. In 2014, he ran for the governorship on a platform that opposed the relocation of the Futenma Air Base to Henoko in northern Okinawa and called for the ending of American occupation of Okinawa. He won the governorship and in October 2015 Onaga revoked the land reclamation permit needed for construction in Henoko.

On 11 August 2018, 70,000 people attended a rally in Okinawa in honor of Governor Onaga’s memory and his struggle against the relocation of Futenma Air Station to Henoko in northern Okinawa.

Onaga enjoyed close ties with Hawaii and was a strong supporter of WUB Network. In a statement read at WUB Network’s 21st Conference, Governor Onaga expressed that “WUB’s engagement in business throughout the world holds immense significance in Okinawa.” (source) Governor Onaga was named Honorary Chair of the 20th WUB Network Conference held during the 2016 Taikai.

During the 2016 Taikai, Governor Onaga joined Hawaii’s Governor David Ige and WUB Network President Steve Kishaba Sombrero.

Gov. David Ige,  Steve Sombrero, and Gov. Takeshi Onaga at 2016 Taikai

 

References

Motoko Rich. 2018. “Okinawa governor criticized U.S. military base presence.” Honolulu Star-Advertiser/ New York Times

Shannon Tiezzi. 2015. “It’s Official: Okinawa Governor Withdraws Permission for US Base Construction.” The Diplomat.

Wu Li Jun.  “Celebrating 20 years of bonds built through business, the WUB vow to “Work the Net Together” at conference in Hawaii.” Ryukyu Shimpo, 3 September 2017.