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CG Kamo’s Remarks

At the Cherry Blossom Queen Reception

May 7, 2010

Good Evening. Aloha. A hearty welcome to you all! The idea of holding a spring party actually came from the elegant evening I enjoyed at Dr. Leinweber’s heritage home at Manoa. It was meant to admire spring and cherry blossoms, but we ended up with enjoying Japanese sake a lot. No wonder that the event was organized by the Kokusai Sake-Kai, Japanese sake lovers’ club. 

Today I am hosting a spring joy party, while my genuine purpose is to take out Cherry Blossom Queens to join us here as we gather to enjoy the joy of spring. It is our proud tradition to celebrate the arrival of spring by selecting a new Cherry Blossom Queen for the year. Marissa Machida won the beauty contest, as we all know.

To become the Queen is by no means easy. The contestants had to go through the rigorous selecting process administered by the demanding judges. They also went through one of the most intensive training courses for Japanese culture and tradition given by Lillian Yajima and other senseis. I would like to commend their effort to get immersed with Japanese hearts and minds and thus offer my admiration for what they have achieved for a relatively short period. Their elegant bowing is perfect.

The Junior Chamber put together this extravaganza, as they did in the past, so masterfully and successfully. I laud for their passion and professionalism.

We have local media people here as our honored guests. Please feel free to approach and interview with the Queen and her court so you can write good stories about them. In so doing, you can help them work better in boosting Hawaii’s image.  

The Queen will be visiting Japan sometime in the near future to represent Hawaii. She will call on Japan’s Prime Minister. She is supposed to serve as a friendship ambassador to promote the friendly relationship of Hawaii and Japan. I wish her the best of luck in Japan.

Today’s event has more to offer. We are going to have a lecture on Japan by the members of the Hawaii delegation of JALD who went to Japan in March this year. What is JALD? The Japanese government has been running an invitational program called the Japanese American Leadership Delegation in the past ten years, in which a dozen or more of influential leaders of Japanese Americans across the nation are invited to visit Japan and get the first hand observation of its people and culture. Their impressive program includes numerous important appointments and visits to the Japanese establishment, including the Prime Minister, and exclusive sites of traditional and modern Japan.  

From Hawaii, usually two representatives would participate. Duane Kurisu and Colbert Matsumoto participated in the program this year. They are chosen to represent the Japanese－American community in Hawaii. They too are expected to assume goodwill ambassadors to help enhance the friendly ties of the U.S. and Japan, Hawaii and Japan, for that matter.

I am pleased to say that they did a great job. Colbert was always enthusiastic to air his opinions with his Japanese counterparts, while Duane was most thoughtful in bringing his personal TV crew to let them record the JALD visit.

Today, they are going to tell us what they saw and thought in Japan in their lecture and video clips. I really look forward to their presentation that will take place in the drawing room later. Don’t miss it. Also don’t miss tasty desserts prepared by Chef Uematsu, which will be served, after the lecture, in the dining room.

Duane Kurisu is a man of action. He is planning to go back to Japan this fall to follow up his JALD trip there. He will produce a cultural event at the Osaka Dome stadium, featuring Hawaiian music, dance and food, showcasing what Hawaii’s bests are all about. This is certainly my ardent wish that his idea will materialize and score a huge success. It would be wonderful if there could be a role assigned to the Cherry Blossom Queen in this enterprise. Certainly she can represent a Hawaii at its best.

Dear friends, while I am speaking, I feel pressure from you to finish my talk soonest. It’s time for us to welcome the Queen. But let me add one more thing.

We are going to celebrate the 100th anniversary of presenting cherry trees to the US in 2012. These cherry saplings from Japan were planted on the banks of Potomac River in Washington D.C. in 1912 and had transformed the capital of the United States into that of cherry blossoms in spring.

I understand that the Embassy of Japan in Washington D.C. along with other Japan related organizations are going to have a grand cherry blossoms festivity there in 2012. They also want to launch the nationwide campaign of planting cherry trees. Cherry blossoms are admired by many here in Oahu. We have the Cherry Blossoms Queen and her court here. It would be a great idea that we also have a special event locally to commemorate the occasion. Planting cherry trees is always a challenge, but it is a befitting expression to show our commitment to our bond of trust and friendship for the next 100 years.

Cherry blossoms have symbolism. We Japanese compare our life to cherry blossoms. Life is fleeting. Cherry blossoms come in bloom and go out of bloom in a short while. I hope our economy will not follow suit, though. Cherry blossoms symbolize resurrection as well. Each spring, Japanese people flock to great old trees of several hundred years old to enjoy their blossoms blooming proudly again after a long severe winter. I hope Japan can be compared to cherry blossoms in this perspective.    

Have a pleasant evening.