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HPU Associate Professor Vince Okada, Ph.D., second from left, in the panel session with from left to right: the moderator, Shizuyo Yoshitomi, Ph.D. of Mukogawa Women’s University; Fernando Basques of the Embassy of Paraguay in Japan; Mie Elena Iwatani of the Asociación de Ñandutí en Japón; and Ikuko Okada, an Ainu craft artist.
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Kekoa Harman, Ph.D., and Kalālamanama Harman, performing their original hula piece, inspired by the family's visit to Shiraoi, Hokkaido.
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A collaborative performance between an Ainu Mukkuri (a traditional mouth harp) player and a Tibetan guitarist.
Vince Okada, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Social Work, was invited to participate in and present at the kickoff event for the Osaka-Kansai 2025 Expo in Japan. The event featured a symposium and cultural performances representing Ainu, Hawaiian, Japanese Noh theater, and a multicultural jazz ensemble.
The event was part of Shiraoi Cultural Exchange Week 2025: "Inheritance of Life – Designing the Future Society of Water and Trade," held at the Yamamoto Noh Theatre in Osaka on Tuesday, April 15. It was hosted by the Shiraoi Cultural Tourism Promotion Committee of Hokkaido and the Japan Cultural Expo 2.0.
Okada invited Kekoa Harman, Ph.D., and his daughter, Kalālamanama Harman, from Hawaiʻi Island, to perform a hula piece inspired by the Harman family’s visit to Shiraoi, Hokkaido, last fall. The choreography was developed collaboratively by Kekoa Harman and his wife, Pelehonuamea Harman.
In collaboration with Kekoa Harman and the Shiraoi Cultural Tourism Promotion Committee of Hokkaido, Okada is working to launch youth exchange programs between Native Hawaiian youth and the youth of Shiraoi, including Ainu youth. During the panel discussion, he also shared educational efforts related to the Polynesian voyaging canoe Hōkūleʻa, including her scheduled journey to Japan in two years.
Panelists included a producer from the Osaka-Kansai 2025 Expo, jazz pianist Sachiko Nakashima, Fernando Basques of the Embassy of Paraguay in Japan, Yoshinori Futamata of the Shiraoi Cultural Tourism Promotion Committee, and Akihiro Yamamoto, Representative Director of the Yamamoto Noh Theatre Foundation and a Designated Holder of Important Intangible Cultural Heritage (Comprehensive Certification), among others.
