By George F. Lee, Star-Bulletin
Mika Goto, front, Brandy Nagamine, Sonya Tateishi,
Wandee Nilpruek and Nona Hanapi practice at the McCoy
Pavilion.
Hi-5 International goes online
By Stephanie Kendrick
with an itinerary that includes ukulele
and hula lessons and is geared to
lure back Japan visitors
Assistant Features EditorA couple of local tour organizers are hoping to alter the popular perception of Hawaii in Japan -- that the state is a large shopping mall with a beach attached.
This summer, Hi-5 International will host a four-day hula and ukulele seminar for visitors from Japan by marketing a complete travel package over the Internet and through a Japan travel agent.
"Japanese visitors to Hawaii are coming back five and six times. They're not going to do the same optional tour," said Hi-5 marketing director Mark Saruwatari.
"They come back because they love Hawaii, but what do they know about Hawaii?
"I wanted to give them an opportunity to let them see more than they have been seeing," he said.
His goal is to offer visitors from Japan a more culturally intense view of Hawaii than they've been getting. To that end, Saruwatari has enlisted the talents of ukulele master Moe Keale and his son, kumu hula Nalani Keale.
By George F. Lee, Star-Bulletin
Kumu hula Nalani Keale plays ukulele as he watches
his troupe rehearse the night's lesson. "What better
situation than to come to Hawaii and learn hula,"
said Keale. "It's like going to Spain to
learn the pasodoble."
"What better situation than to come to Hawaii and learn hula," said Nalani Keale. "It's like going to Spain to learn the pasodoble."Nalani acknowledged a lot of Japanese are learning hula in Japan, interest Hi-5 hopes to draw on for its program, but in Hawaii you walk out of the classroom and you see the mountains and the ocean, he said.
"We are even holding an outdoor class, at Ala Moana Beach Park. You can't do that in Japan," said Saruwatari.
Nalani has been teaching hula for eight years and has led workshops in Europe, Hong Kong and Japan.
There are 50 students in Nalani's halau, Kaualakahi. He teaches men and women in three classes each week; one for beginners, one for seasoned dancers and one for kupuna.
"My whole deal with teaching is to make sure they are doing it correct," said Nalani whose focus is on traditional hula rather than what most people see on television and at luau.
That inclination is what inspired Kuni Goto, president of Japan Link Inc., to organize a tour that would allow people from Japan who want to study hula to take lessons from Nalani. That and the fact that his wife, Mika Goto, is a former student of the kumu hula.
By George F. Lee, Star-Bulletin
Nalani Keale (center) and his troupe end each
practice session with a prayer.
The Japan Link hula tour will be offered three times this year, May 16-22, July 11-17 and Sept. 12-18, with room for about 100 students.Mika Goto's halau Kaulakahi Japan is not directly involved with either tour, but because she was Nalani's student, tour participants may continue their hula studies in Japan with Mika.
"The idea of this hula tour has a lot to do with my experience with Hawaii," said Kuni Goto.
When he first visited Hawaii 20 years ago he took in a hula show. It was not until he met his wife several years ago that he realized the difference between the dance spectacle he saw and authentic hula.
"My wife, Mika, really loves hula, particularly Nalani's," said Goto. "Her devotion to hula has drastically changed my understanding of hula. It is not just that I know what real hula is now, but also that I better understand the beauty of it."
On one of his frequent trips to Hawaii, he decided to watch Nalani's hula practice.
"By then, I kind of knew hula to some extent, but his hula practice really impressed me. I was even moved with its beauty and deep cultural orientation," said Goto.
In both programs, Nalani will be teaching basic steps and the meanings of the songs.
You can't teach one without the other, he said. "If you do the motions with an idea in your head, it really shows," said Nalani.
His experience as a teacher has taught him that the workshops will change its students.
When he taught in Germany, Nalani said he started with a room full of women with rock-hard faces. By the end of the workshop they were full of smiles and plans to get together and practice.
"A big thing too is to show them what aloha is really all about," said Nalani. "A lot of people think it's just a word, but the way I grew up, it's a lifestyle."
And his father, Moe Keale, will help him teach that lesson, along with the basics of ukulele, for the Hi-5 International tour.
By George F. Lee, Star-Bulletin
Japan Link, Inc., organizes tours that include hula
lessons from Nalani Keale. Keale's dancers are shown
here at a recent practice session held at McCoy Pavilion.
Nalani has taught workshops with his father before and the artists often perform together."I'm my father's dancer, I'm his halau. That's how he introduces me. He'll say 'Everybody's got their own halau now days, this is my halau ...' and I come out," said Nalani, who is excited about the prospect of teaching Japanese students.
"They'll be disciplined, eager. They'll be like little sponges," he said.
He is a little worried about the language barrier because communication is integral to his teaching style. But both tours will have translators and, Nalani said, you can say a lot with body language.
It's his love of the hula that Nalani most wants to communicate to the students from Japan.
"You get wonderful exercise, it sharpens your mind and it polishes your soul," he said.
Both Hi-5 International and Japan Link hope to offer the tours again if things go well this year.
Exporting aloha
Hula & Ukulele in Hawaii
June 8-12
Total package is &YEN228,000 ($1,871 as of 4/5 exchange). Guests who do not wish to participate in the hula and ukulele lessons can come along for &YEN188,000 ($1,543).
The first day a group photo will be taken at Magic Island and each participant will be presented with an aloha shirt or muumuu. Dinner that evening will include a hula and fire knife show. The next three days comprise hula and ukulele lessons interspersed with free time and optional tours. The evening of the third day is the farewell party with performance by participants as well as professional halau.
For more information, call 456-4695 or visit www.hi5international.com.
Japan Link hula tour
The May tour costs about $ 1,600, including transportation, accommodations at the Ala Moana Hotel, lessons, some meals, a T-shirt and a certificate.
JTB tour company's Marunouchi branch in Tokyo is organizing the tour, with logistical support from JTB Hawaii.
It is a seven-day tour with five nights in Honolulu, including three days, 12 hours, of hula lessons. At a party on the fourth day, participants will dance the hula they learned. The night before their departure, they will go to Sheraton Waikiki to watch Nalani Keale dance. For more information, call JTB in Japan at (81) (03) 3284-7600.
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