Iwaishima

On the way to Oshima, Hokule'a and Kame Hele plan to make a brief stop at Iwaishima, where there is an ancient shrine for praying for the safety of mariners.

From website at http://www.hasibe.jp/hanashi/07-manyosyu.html .

iwaishima canoe with oars

A 16-oar canoe and a fleet of fishing boats and kayaks from Iwaishima, Yamaguchi Prefecture, came out to greet Hokule'a at her first stop in the Inland Sea yesterday. Banners hanging from bamboo stalks on the boats were welcoming Hokule'a and also "protesting against plans to build a nuclear power plant in the area." A crew member on the Iwaishima canoe also performed a sacred dance: "According to Taku, among all the fishing communities in Japan, the people of Iwai-jima are the most concerned with spirituality and sustainability in drawing their livelihood from the sea, and the significance of this dance is to give thanks for the fish they have taken and seek blessings for the safety of the fleet." (See 5/20 report, Derek Ferrar). Photo from weblog at http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~jf-iwai/

Iwaishima canoe and Hokule'a

from weblog at http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~jf-iwai/

Iwaishima fleet greets Hokule'a

from weblog at http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~jf-iwai/

crew greets crew at iwaishima

The leader of the crew on the Japanese canoe passed on to Captain Kalepa of Hokule'a a "lantern whose flame was lit from a fire that started in the Hiroshima bombing and has been kept alive since in honor of the souls lost in the bombing" (Ferrar). The flame was being passed on from island to island, and "One of the older men asked that we take part of this flame, and find an appropriate place to extinguish it, as a symbolic moment for world peace." (See 5/20 report by Cherie Shehata.) Photo from weblog at http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~jf-iwai/

Hokule'a 'aiha'a at Iwaishima

from weblog at http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~jf-iwai/

crew greets crew at Iwaishima

from weblog at http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~jf-iwai/

Crew with the children of Oshima

Oshima ("Big Island," pop. 230,000) in Yamaguchi is just offshore of Honshu and 30 miles southwest of Hiroshima City. From Yamaguchi prefecture came the second largest group of Japanese immigrant sugar plantation workers to Hawai'i in the late 19th and early 20th century. Oshima island is a national park and home to the Museum of Japanese Emigration to Hawaii. According to Wikipedia, "Suo-Oshima [the main town, pop.22,070] is a sister city of Kauai, Hawaii. ....Office workers and bus drivers in town wear colorful aloha shirts as a uniform in summer.” Photo by Ka'iulani Murphy.

Oshima strawberry farmer builds a model of Hokule'a

"The ties of friendship between Hawai’i and Japan seem to be growing stronger every day." (Crew member Kaimana Barcarse).

A strawberry farmer, Yonezawa Isaomi, who lives in Suo-Oshima, is building the 1/10 replica of Hokule’a to pray the safe voyage.

From only photos and illustrations of the canoe, he used a hand saw and knives to build this. He wants the crewmembers to visit his farm. Yonezawa-san said “If the crewmembers will come here, I want to let them enjoy the strawberries harvested at my farm”. (Photo courtesy of Kato Kosei)

Oshima National College of Maritime Technology

From Iwaishima, Hokule'a continued on to Oshima, Yamaguchi Prefecture, 17 miles to the east of Iwaishima, where the crew was welcomed first at Oshima National College of Maritime Technology by "a band playing and a presentation of flowers by children to the crew" and taiko drums; then at Mukuno Fishing Harbor, Suo-Oshima town, by a crowd of 3000 people with hula dancers and taiko drummers. Photo Left: Oshima National College of Maritime Technology. One of its educational objectives is "to train well-educated engineers with an international way of thinking."

Captain Kalepa "asked Nainoa to douse the flame we had been given at Iwai-jima island to symbolize an end to warfare, because of Nainoa’s personal connection to this place through Yoshi Kawano, the milkman [from Niu Valley] who looked after Nainoa when he was young, and who first taught him about fishing and the ways of the sea. As the crews huddled around, a small candle was lit from the lantern flame (which in turn had been lit from a flame that has been kept burning since the Hiroshima bombing). “It’s such an honor that our canoe has been asked to carry this symbol of peace,” Nainoa said as he held the candle. “And to all who have brought the canoe to this moment in time, I am eternally grateful to be here with you.” As he poured seawater from a coconut shell onto the flame to put it out, he said: No more, no more hatred in this world. Let’s just drown it.” (See Ferrar, 5/20 below.)
Photo from http://www.oshima-k.ac.jp/en/hist.htm

Plantation Workers

80 years old master craftman of woodworking Fujii-san, who lives in Suo-Oshima

Fujii-san, the eighty year old master craftman of woodworking who lives in Suo-Oshima. He made the pepeiao for Hokule'a that enabled the crew to hoist the crab claw sails. (Photo from the weblog of Miyazaki Masako. Link courtesy of Kato Kosei.)