600 people celebrate Okinawa Plaza opening in Hawaii

600 people celebrate Okinawa Plaza opening in Hawaii

Guests cutting a tape made of maile lei to celebrate the opening of the facility


 

September 5, 2018 Ryukyu Shimpo

 

A commercial facility called Okinawa Plaza opened in Waipahu, Hawaii, as a new base for Okinawa-related acctivities.

The opening ceremony was held on September 3.

The plaza is located next to the Hawaii Okinawa Center, which is managed by the Hawaii United Okinawa Association.

The goal of the plaza is to use rent from the business operators in the plaza to maintain the center as well as to support Okinawa-related activities. Six hundred people, including the third-generation Okinawan-American governor of Hawaii, David Ige, attended the ceremony to celebrate the opening of the facility.

 

Courtney Takara, president of the Hawaii United Okinawa Association, ensured that, “We will continue our effort to keep strong ties with Okinawa as well as to pass down our traditional culture to the next generation.

We will do so while keeping our first-generation Okinawans’ effort in mind.” Governor Ige said, “The creation of the plaza strengthened the connection between Hawaii and Okinawa.”

He spoke further about the governor of Okinawa, Takeshi Onaga, who passed away recently, saying “[The governor] devoted his life to strengthen our bond. He was a symbol of goodness of Okinawa.”

(English translation by T&CT and Sayaka Sakuma)

 

Go to Japanese


　


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