Maui Bounenkai & Workshop

Our arrival in Maui was met with great weather and excitement as guests for the bounenkai were already arriving 1 1/2 hours early. “The older members want to make sure they have a good seat”, said Traci Fujita, outgoing president. The time flew by and before we knew it, it was time to play music for the lunch, and then begin our program.

Maui’s own Kyle and Dane opened up and blessed the stage with the Shisa Mo-i. Great job boys…especially Dane for surviving it with a flu. Toshimitsu Matayoshi did really well on his debut. He looked like a satunushi right out of the Sho era. Both he and Keith Shimabukuro did a great job with “Kajadifu”. “Tsurukame” brought the good luck vibrance of red and gold, and “Hanafu” pulled the audience into the story of the dance as tears filed the eyes of some. Hatuma Bushi brought the lively beat to finish the program along with the kachashi.

The workshop followed that evening at the Maui Okinawa Cultural Center. About 75 dedicated members attended from 5-10pm. Wow, they actually had a full day with the bonenkai. Thank you Maui for your interest and support. Onolicious food was also provided for the nite. Much mahalo to the ones who put the food and everything together. No one really left the workshop and many questions were asked concerning the music and instruments. We hope that we were able to fill in some spaces and to have had sparked some or more interests in the music segment. We look forward to doing the dance and textile workshops in the near future.