Three years ago, JCCIH and Subaru joined to provide a cultural experience that had three purposes:

• Build lasting friendships between the Subaru staff, JCCIH membership and the community;
• Create a "sampler" of food, activities, and history of this traditional Japanese "Star" Festival;
• Build community interest to embrace traditional Tanabata activities, while highlighting the importance of the study of the stars.

We are accomplishing these objectives, while having fun.  July 7th was a beautiful day for JCCIH's 3rd Tanabata ' Star' Festival. This festival is recognized throughout the world, particularly in Japan.  The festival traces its origins to a legend that the cowherder Hikoboshi  (Altair Star) and weaver Orihime (Vega Star) were lovers separated by the Milky Way. These lovers were forbidden to meet by Orihime's father, the king. But later, her father realizing that they were committed to true love, allowed them to meet once a year, on the seventh day of the seventh month. Everyone likes a good love story.

Traditional Tanabata activities and food include writing Tanazaku Wishes, which are displayed on bamboo stalks for all to read and sharing Nagashi Somen, which means "flowing somen."

The Hilo Hongwanji Betsuin brought their Nagashi Somen crew, led by Toshi and Takako Miura, Alan and Sandy Shigeta, Jean Tung, Sandy Taniguchi, Bob Nishimoto, Jane Miyashiro, and master garnish and sauce preparer Yoshiko Kono.  They prepared, set-up, and orchestrated the "cold somen" running in mizu down the bamboo flume.  They explained how to catch the slippery somen.  Did you know that left handers and right handers should stand on different sides of the bamboo  flume?

 

JCCIH members, Thundering Sushi and AJ and Sons, provided a well-paired lunch of assorted sushi and local favorites, including miso salmon and kimpira. KTA Super Stores generously donated a beautifully decorated Tanabata-themed cake. Oiishii deshita.

Large arches of bamboo cut by Chad Ogata and Dean Fuke adorned the Subaru Telescope administration building.  Beautiful origami ornaments were made by many hands, led by Irene Nagao and Carol Gristock. Miyuki Lee guided her St. Joseph School's foreign students who made many ornaments, including a long origami ornament symbolizing the Milky Way.

Everyone was happy to know that many of these ornaments, which take time to make, would be used again at the Hawaii Japanese Center's and Project Dana's Tanabata Festivals. This re-using of useful items is a Japanese concept of mottainai (waste not).

An "ice-breaker" led by Mike Miyahira helped Subaru staff and JCCIH members work together as a team, in just a few minutes.  Many were familiar with each other from the Tanabata Festivals from the past two years.

The program was rich with cultural and scientific explanation of the Tanabata Star Festival.  Dr. Nobuo Arimoto blended science, folklore, poetry and with a visual experience that helped us to understand the importance of astronomy, culture and bitter-sweet love. Sometimes, a parent stops a love affair, but then later allows true love and passion to prevail.

Emcee Dwayne Mukai recognized that the Subaru staff provided a "cultured" entertainment program with viola played by Shintaro Koshida, piano by Christophe Clergeon and Kanako Okita, and vocal by Keiko Formanek, a former professional singer with Takarazuka Revue. Mrs. Miyako Arimoto, Subaru's karaoke expert and JCCIH's Hiroshi Suga performed a duet about "about peace and ever lasting love." The 3rd Tanabata Festival has built lasting friendships, while providing a great entertainment event.

JCCIH President Russell Arikawa thanked Dr. Arimoto, Director of Subaru Telescope, for the beautiful Subaru Telescope Facility's use and the help of his hardworking and incredibly talented staff to work with JCCIH's Education and Social and Culture Committees to plan and assist with the festival. Everyone concluded with the Tejime, a concluding tradition of rhythmic clapping with an enthusiastic exclamation " iyo`o." The group is now fastened together in common purpose.

The Education and Social and Cultural Committees thank everyone who helped to make the Tanabata Festival successful, including the Subaru staff coordinated by Dr. Arimoto, Keiko Formanek, and Yuko Kakazu; Subaru entertainers and staff that helped set-up and clean-up;  JCCIH's Dean Fuke and Debbie Shigehara who coordinated the food, Carol Gristock, Miyuki Lee's St. Joseph School students, Irene Nagao's helpers ( Portia Hara and Phyllis Shinno), Carol VanCamp and Ron, Russell Arikawa, Mike Miyahira, Dwayne Mukai, Jon Arizumi, Tommy Goya, Lynnette Uyesato, Hiroshi Sugai, Missy Miyashiro, Gina Tanouye with her masterfully prepared bamboo holders and Chad Ogata who braved the fire-ants to get the bamboo, Lei Momi Pillers, KTA Super Stores, and the Hilo Hongwanji Betsuin, led by Toshi and Takako Miura, Jane Miyashiro and Yoshiko Kono. A special thank you to Education Co-chair, Yu Yok Pearring, who coordinated the festival for the JCCIH.

Domo arigato gozaimasu.

As a new member of this wonderful community, I have been drawn immediately to the local commitment to sustainability. The latter is not simply a buzzword; it is an all-hands-on-deck undertaking, with shoppers carrying their own bags and patronizing local product producers. Indeed, all sectors of our 'ohana - from government to education to business - are determined to achieve an environmentally sound, socially responsible and economically viable community.

Economic sustainability is a key part of the broader sustainability effort, and as the new Chancellor of Hawai'i Community College, I look forward to helping reach this goal.

I want to ensure the college is doing everything it can to provide all members of our community with the opportunity to create a comfortable and rewarding life for themselves and their families.

Hawai'i Community College's role in a sustainable local economy is to provide students with the skills and knowledge that allow them to become valued employees or innovative employers and entrepreneurs who are fulfilled as individuals and engaged in the future of our community and the world.

By doing so, Hawai'i Community College can help make it possible to build upon the fervor for "buying local" with a continued, collective effort to "hiring local" and fostering more "homegrown" products and services. This is essential if we are to sustain our local economy.

With our open-door admissions policy, lower tuition rates, unique programs, high-quality instruction and services, Hawai'i Community College is well positioned to contribute to this effort, and has been doing so for many years.

The college has made tremendous strides in attracting and educating students from populations that have traditionally been underserved by higher education, such as Native Hawaiians, Filipinos, Pacific Islanders, and students who are eligible for need-based Pell grants.

With our Early College program we have helped hundreds of high school students start college early, increasing the chances they will attend college and succeed there.

By opening the new Hawai'i Community College-Pālamanui campus last fall in West Hawai'i, we are now better positioned to serve that region of the island, which has never before had permanent facilities for higher education.

The college offers many high-quality academic programs and learning resources that are available nowhere else on the island.

But there is more for us to do to increase the number of post-secondary graduates and help the community reach its potential, including making sure we are delivering programs that are appropriate for the rapidly changing economic environment in which we live. Being responsive to the skills demand and employment needs requires our vigilance in reaching out and tapping into the collective knowledge about the Hawai'i Island workforce.

With your wise counsel and guidance, together we can address the skills gaps and design appropriate programs for our students. Together, we can keep our post-secondary education current and relevant and make sure it translates to livable-wage jobs and fulfilling career pathways for all.

Hawai'i Community College embraces the concept of kauhale, which traditionally means the Hawaiian village. Kauhale is an 'ohana of administrators, faculty, staff, students, their families, and the Hawaiʻi Island community that contributes to the success of the college's mission and outcomes.

I am thrilled to be joining this kauhale and look forward to learning more about the needs of the community and working together to create a thriving, sustainable Hawai'i Island economy.