Japanese Festival Schedule
3:00 Welcome
3:05 Maui Okinawa Taiko (Drumming)
3:25 JCSM Welcome
Announcements
3:45 Yanagida Studio (Exercise)
3:55 Mayor’s Message, Deputy Consul General of Japan, Business Awards
4:10 Anju Madoka (Folk Singer)
4:25 Michele Chin-Purcell (Japanese Lion Dance)
4:40 Nakayama Minyo Kai (Folk Dancing)
4:45 Announcements
5:00 Natto Eating Contest
5:15 Sam Sato Saimin Eating Contest
5:30 Maui Taiko (Drumming)
5:50 Maui Minyo Kai (Folk Dancing)
6:05 Zenshin Daiko (Drumming)
6:30 eSports Winner Announcement
6:35 Nakayama Minyo Kai (Folk Dancing)
6:40 Passport Winners Announcements
6:45 Anju Madoka (Folk Singer)
7:00 Michele Chin-Purcell (Japanese Lion Dance)
7:20 Transition to obon
ABOUT maui matsuri
Maui Matsuri started as a Japanese festival on Market Street in Wailuku Maui in May 1999. It is the only Japanese festival on Maui and it is put together totally by a team of volunteers. The perpetual theme for this festival is “Kodomo No Tame Ni“, which is part of our logo. It translates to “For the Sake of the Children”. Our focus is to provide an environment for families to share and learn about the Japanese culture and pass down traditions. Ancestors came here for a better life not only for themselves but for their children and for generations to come. In this spirit, we end the festival with a traditional obon dance which encourages all ages, all religious denominations, and all ethnicities to come together to dance in honor of all ancestors.
Community Obon
Maui Matsuri this year features a solemn luminary to offer healing from the Aug. 8, 2023 wildfires that took 101 lives. The Maui Interfaith Alliance is a group of spiritual leaders who have come together for a common purpose. The Alliance will lead some prayers, and lighting of 101 candles to kick-off the festival’s Obon Dancing finale. Some members of the Alliance participating are: Nā Mea ʻOli – Rev. Kealahou Alika and Fr. John A. Hauʻoli Tomoso+, Prayer in Christian Tradition – Pastor Roxanne WhiteLight, Prayer in Jewish Tradition – Chaplain Rabbi Ryan Mallek of the US Navy, Prayer in Buddhist tradition and to explain the significance of Obon – Rev. Kerry Kiyohara.
Please join us in this portion of the festival as we remember our loved ones.
passport Program
Get a FREE GIFT by getting
passport stamps at various event
locations between 3-6pm.
Business Award
Service Rentals
The 23rd annual Maui Matsuri named Service Rentals & Supplies, Inc. as this year’s Business Award recipient for its commitment to the community, which
This year’s theme and design was created by two skilled artists. Reverend Gensho Hara, the resident minister of Lahaina Jodo Mission, provided the hand-drawn calligraphy for the kanji character “nozomi.”
He selected a character that represented the community’s ability to “move forward” and progress in the aftermath of the devastating fires in Lahaina and Kula.
Maui’s own Jonathan Yukio Clark incorporated the nozomi kanji into a design featuring the motif of ema, the wooden tablets on which individuals inscribe their wishes or prayers and hang at temples or shrines.
The design includes the Japanese Hinomaru rising sun alongside Shochikubai – pine, bamboo, and plum – symbolizing longevity, resilience in adversity, and hope for the future
Jonathan Yukio Clark
Jonathan Yukio Clark is a multi-disciplinary artist working in sculpture, painting, printmaking, textile, and drawing. He is Director at Maui Arts & Cultural Center’s Schaefer International Gallery, where he leads the curation and implementation of the gallery’s exhibits program.
