Tag: Okinawa

  • Celebrating the Okinawan Culture

    Since more than 1,500 years ago, Kānaka Maoli (Native Hawaiians) have welcomed immigrants from every corner of the globe, cultivating and perpetuating a tapestry of diverse cultures. In the fourth article in this ongoing series on the many cultures that comprise Hawai‘i, we focus on how the Okinawan people arrived in the Hawaiian Islands, their…

  • Hawai‘i Veteran Thomas Taro Higa

    It is an honor to celebrate the 125th anniversary of Okinawan immigration to Hawai‘i with the inspiring story of Thomas Taro Higa, a 100th Infantry Battalion WWII Veteran of Okinawan descent (generations808.com/125th-anniversary-of-okinawans-in-hawaii). Thomas was born in 1916 in Kahalu‘u, Hawai‘i, but was sent to Okinawa as a young child, where he gained a strong command…

  • A Fulfilling Life

    Kameko Miyahira doesn’t look or act like a 100-year-old. She rises every day at 5 am, makes her own breakfast and lunch, exercises, does a little housekeeping, works in the yard and takes a nap. I was so impressed at how Kameko could manage all the steps in her daughter’s Aiea house, where she has…