In February 2001, Ehime Maru, the training ship of the Ehime Prefectural Uwajima Fishery High School, sank off Le'ahi, Honolulu, after being rammed by the USS Greeneville, a nuclear submarine which was performing a rapid ascent maneuver with two civilian guests at the controls. Nine crewmembers of Ehime Maru drowned, including four high-school students. Photo Left: "In 2006 Mayor Hirohisa Ishibashi of Uwajima, Japan, visited and prayed in front of the Ehime Maru Memorial at Kaka'ako Waterfront Park, in Honolulu, with families and friends of the drowned." (From Honolulu Star-Bulletin, Vol. 11, Issue 41 - Friday, February 10, 2006.)

In March 2001, after a memorial and healing ceremony at Maunalua Bay, Hokule'a scattered lei over the site of the sinking when the families of the drowned visited the watery grave on boats. For more on this 2001 memorial service, see the Honolulu Advertiser's "Hawaiian ceremony honors Ehime Maru victims". Hokule'a is visiting Uwajima to reconnect with the families. In February of this year, the father of the one student never found, speaking publicly on behalf of the bereaved families, said that when Hokule’a sails to Uwajima, she will carry home the souls of their children.

In February 2002, a monument dedicated to those who died in the sinking was unveiled at Kaka'ako Waterfront Park in Honolulu. The Ehime Maru Memorial Assocation was incorporated to coordinate the establishment and maintenance of the memorial. In 2004, Uwajima became the 23rd Sister City of Honolulu; in 2005, Ehime Prefecture and Hawaii became sister states.