By Luana Maitland

On Sunday, November 16, a celebration was held to honor and celebrate the birthday of King David

2008 May Day Queen Paulette Kahalepuna and Luana Maitland

Kalakaua, whose statue stands at the entrance to Waikiki. Joining in the celebration were this year’s May Day Queen, Paulette Kahalepuna, representing Mayor Mufi Hannenman; the United Japanese Society President Dennis Kanemori, Japanese Consulate General of Japan; Honorable Consulate General Toshio Kunikata; and the organizers of the celebration Jim Willig, Lopaka Kapanui, and members of the Lodge Le Progres De I’Oceanie, in addition to the hundreds of visitors and members of our local communities. Following the ceremony was a parade in honor of the King. Uncle George Na‘ope served as Grand Marshall and was joined by Palani Vaughn.

This was the first time Uncle George Na‘ope attended the birthday celebration for the King. He said he was

Lopaka Kapanui, “Uncle George” Na‘ope, and Palani Vaughn

thrilled and recalled how years ago, he felt there needed to be a hula festival to honor the king, so he started the Merrie Monarch Hula Festival in King Kalakaua’s memory. When asked why he thought a hula festival would be an appropriate way to honor the King, he replied, “I felt the hula was becoming too modern and that we had to preserve it. King David Kalakaua, a.k.a. The Merrie Monarch, brought the hula back to Hawaii and made us realize how important it was for our people. There was nothing here in Hilo, so I decided to honor King Kalakaua and have a festival with just hula. I didn’t realize it would grow into such a large and important event.”

The statue of Kalakaua was commissioned by the Oahu Kanyaku Imin Centennial Committee on behalf of the Japanese-American community in 1985 in observance of the arrival of the first ship carrying 944 Kanyaku Imin or government contract immigrants from Japan to Hawaii on February 8, 1885, to work the sugar plantations. King Kalakaua visited Japan in May, 1881, on his trip around the world and appealed to Emperor Meiji to send immigrants to Hawaii to relieve the shortage of laborers on the sugar plantations. This resulted in the signing of the Japan-Hawaii Labor Convention. Japanese, numbering 220,000, immigrated to Hawaii from 1885 -1924 when the Oriental Exclusion Act was enacted by the Congress of the United States. The Japanese-Americans, who are descendants of these immigrants, have been successful in numerous fields and prospered here in Hawaii. The King is honored as the “Father of Japanese Immigration to Hawaii.” This statue was dedicated as a symbol of appreciation and aloha to King Kalakaua.

Mahalo to our gracious hosts from the Outrigger ‘ohana, Pam Cabrera, Tim Alex, Lily Tran, Sean Ajimine, and Chris Miles.