[ SUNDAY TRAVEL ]
PAN-PACIFIC FESTIVAL
A masked performer is one of the entertainers at the Pan-Pacific Ho'olaule'a.
Festival brings the You don't have to travel 3,800 miles to experience the best of Japan. Once a year, the Pan-Pacific Festival-Matsuri in Hawaii brings it to you. This year's celebration runs Friday through June 9 and is expected to draw 20,000 spectators to various Honolulu venues. Most activities are free.
best of Japan to isles
About 20,000 people are expected
at the annual cultural eventBy Cheryl Chee Tsutsumi
Special to the Star-BulletinKintetsu, one of Japan's largest tour companies, launched the festival in 1979 as a cultural exchange between Hawaii and Japan. At the time, Hawaii was skyrocketing in popularity among vacationers from Japan.
"Our festival founders believed that this was a golden opportunity to bring Japanese performers or 'ambassadors of culture' to the Islands," says Albert Miyasato, chairman of the Matsuri Advisory Committee, an organization of Hawaii businesses and residents that supports the festival.
"A matsuri is generally understood as a community event that brings excitement to the streets and invites participation, and that's the spirit that shapes all of our events."
Four years ago, the Pan-Pacific Festival formed a partnership with the King Kamehameha Celebration. In the past the two events were held on different weekends in June. Now they are scheduled at the same time, with each entering floats in the other's parade and each providing performers for the other's entertainment programs.
In fact, the Pan-Pacific Festival welcomes participation from countries spanning the Pacific Rim. This year, more than 3,000 musicians, artists and dancers from Japan will join their counterparts representing Hawaii, Korea and China.
"This is the evolution of our festival," says Miyasato. "It truly embodies our cross-cultural commitment."
Three of the biggest events will be staged in Waikiki: the Pan-Pacific Ho'olaule'a, a festive street party featuring entertainers from Japan, live Hawaiian music headlined by Sean Na'auao and an international market of ethnic foods; the Pan-Pacific Matsuri Parade, a colorful sunset procession of bands, floats and performers; and the Matsuri Moonlight Finale, four hours of fun including a bon dance, hula, Korean cultural presentations and Aston's Full Moon Concert starring Kapena.
PAN-PACIFIC FESTIVAL
Visitors from Japan will join local performers to fill Waikiki's Kalakaua Avenue with entertainment during the Pan-Pacific Ho'olaule'a and Matsuri Parade.
During the Ho'olaule'a, a 12-foot-tall Ushioni float from Japan, carried by 20 volunteers, will make its American debut. Flaunting the head of a demon and the body of an ox, it is regarded as a protector from evil. Two Ushioni floats can be seen in the Matsuri Parade, along with a 30-foot-long Onbashira float, which looks like a log.
During the Onbashira festival held in Nagano every six years, mammoth trees are brought from mountain regions to replace the pillars around the four corners of Suwa Shrine, one of Japan's oldest and most sacred places of worship. Men risk death by riding these giant logs down steep slopes and transporting them to the shrine.
The Pan-Pacific Hula Festival also promises to be a crowd-pleaser. Seven halau (six from Japan and one from Hawaii) will shine during a three-hour pageant that showcases the grace and power of the Hawaiian dance.
"Japanese love hula because the movements are more liberating and exotic than traditional Japanese dance," notes Miyasato. "They also love it because it's aerobic and it requires a certain amount of athleticism. Hula became popular in Japan in the 1980s when aerobics became the rage. Now there are more hula classes and halau in Japan than there are in Hawaii!"
Record attendance also is expected for the Hawaiian Half Marathon, a benefit for Hearts of Gold, a nonprofit organization headquartered in Okayama that assists Cambodian children who have been injured by land mines.
There also will be dramatic theater performances ranging from Japanese folk dances and taiko drum presentations to choral concerts and traditional Korean dances during which performers create striking patterns with fans as they move about the stage.
A "ground golf" tournament also will be among the highlights. The game is akin to miniature golf but involves play on just eight holes and distances of only about 66 to 165 feet.
Teams from Japan, Honolulu, Maui and Hilo will vie for top honors in the Friendship Gateball Tournament. An adaptation of croquet, gateball was developed in post-World War II Japan as a form of light recreation that required minimal equipment. It now boasts a huge following, so much so that the Japan Gateball Union has helped to construct more than 100 indoor gateball facilities throughout the country. These now serve as centers of community life.
"Its many elements -- sports, folk music, dances, floats, costumes and food -- make the Pan-Pacific Festival-Matsuri in Hawaii a cultural goodwill ambassador," says Miyasato. "It introduces both Hawaii's people and its visitors from around the world to the excitement, beauty and richness of Japanese culture."
Following is the calendar of events for this year's Pan-Pacific Festival. For more information, call 926-8177 or check the Web site www.pan-pacific-festival.com. CALENDAR OF EVENTS
Friday
Japanese dance performances: >> Ala Moana Center's CenterStage, 12:30 to 3:30 p.m.>> Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center, Fountain Courtyard, 3:30 to 5 p.m.
>> Lei-draping ceremony: King Kamehameha Statue, downtown Honolulu, 4 to 6 p.m.
>> Pan-Pacific Ho'olaule'a: Kalakaua Avenue, Waikiki, 6:10 to 10 p.m.
Saturday
>> Friendship Gateball Tournament: At Ala Moana Park, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.>> King Kamehameha Floral Parade: Iolani Palace in downtown Honolulu to Kapiolani Park in Waikiki, 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
>> Pan-Pacific Hula Festival: At Ala Moana Center's CenterStage, 1 to 4 p.m.
>> Japan-Korea Dream Stage: Traditional performing arts from Korea and Japan, Hawaii Theatre Center, 1 to 4:30 p.m.; $12
>> Furusato Stage: Traditional performing arts from Japan at Hawaii Theatre Center, 5:30 to 9 p.m.; $12.
>> Ballroom Dancing: In the Ala Wai Palladium Ballroom, Ala Wai Golf Course, 6:30 to 9:30 p.m.; $4.
June 9
>> Hawaiian Half Marathon (13.1 miles) and 5-mile Fun Run/Walk Half Marathon: Starts from Magic Island to Kalakaua Avenue, Kahala and back to Kapiolani Park, 5 a.m. start. Also, 5-mile Fun Run/Walk: Starts from Ala Moana Park, heading onto Kalakaua Avenue and Kapiolani Park, 5:20 a.m. start. Entry fee: $20 through June 3, $25 from June 4 to 7, $100 Saturday and Sunday. Half Marathon/Fun Run hot line: 554-6539.>> Ground Golf Hawaiian Open: 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at Ala Moana Park.
>> Japanese Dance Performances: 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Ala Moana Center's CenterStage, and 1 to 4 p.m. at Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center's Fountain Courtyard.
>> Pan-Pacific Matsuri Parade: From Fort DeRussy to Kapiolani Park, 5 to 7 p.m.
>> Matsuri Moonlight Finale: Bon dance; Korean, Japanese and hula performances; and Aston's Full Moon Concert in Kapiolani Park with Kapena, 4:40 to 8:30 p.m.