Posted on: Tuesday, June 26, 2001
Island Voices
Uwajima receives Isle aloha
By Earl Okawa
Director of the Japan-America Society of Hawai'i
On May 31, I and two other representatives of the Organizing Committee of the Ehime Maru Fund visited Uwajima to convey the donations from 1,932 donors to the families of the Ehime Maru crew and to the Uwajima Fisheries High School.
Specifically, $18,000 was transferred to the account of the families of the nine missing crew members (another $18,000 was previously distributed to these families), $26,000 to the account of the 26 survivors, and $95,000 plus a yen check for 250,000 yen to the Uwajima Fisheries High School.
Joanne Ninomiya, president of JN Productions/KIKU-TV, Ken Saiki, president of the United Japanese Society of Hawai'i, and I met with Mayor Hirohisa Ishibashi, Mr. and Mrs. Ryosuke Terata, parents of one of the missing students, and Ietaka Horita, principal of Uwajima Fisheries High School. Masumi Muramatsu, retired chairman of SIMUL International interpreting firm, served as a volunteer interpreter. The representatives traveled at their own expense.
On behalf of all the donors, I expressed how the people of Hawai'i and elsewhere wished to express their sorrow, sympathy and support to the people of Uwajima and especially to the families of the nine missing crew members. All the donors hope that this outpouring of support and aloha from the many caring people will, in some small way, contribute to the healing process, I told our hosts.
Both Mayor Ishibashi and Principal Hirota expressed their appreciation on behalf of the people of Uwajima and the school for the kindness shown by the people of Hawai'i and other donors.
After the ceremony, Hirota took the representatives to the Uwajima Fisheries High School, where other family members were waiting, including the navigator of the Ehime Maru. The family members also expressed their appreciation to all the donors and indicated that they will return to Hawai'i when operations to recover the Ehime Maru commence.
Hirota took the group on a tour of the school and stated that they have gone to Hawaiian waters for training because it is the safest training area for their students. Uwajima Fisheries High School is also the only school to include aquaculture in its curriculum. We were impressed with the well-behaved and friendly manner in which the students greeted us.
The Organizing Committee of the Ehime Maru Fund comprised of the Japan-America Society of Hawaii, JN Productions/KIKU-TV, United Japanese Society of Hawai'i, Japanese Cultural Center of Hawai'i, Honolulu Japanese Chamber of Commerce, First Hawaiian Foundation, Nippon Club, Hawai'i Pilots Association, JET Alumni Association, KZOO Radio, Maui Japanese Community Association, and Four Strings Production wish to thank the many generous and kind-hearted donors who have reached out to touch the families of the Ehime Maru crew and the citizens of Uwajima City.
Donors included 106 companies and organizations and 1,826 donors from Hawai'i, 10 other states, Japan and Canada. Donors are reminded that their contributions are tax-deductible. Thank you to all the donors.
A special thank you also goes out to KIKU-TV for televising announcements of the Ehime Maru Fund, KZOO radio for airing information about the fund, to the First Hawaiian Foundation, the Bank of Hawaii Charitable Foundation and the Honolulu Advertiser Foundation for their contributions of $10,000 each and to the following banks that processed the transfer of funds to the Uwajima accounts expeditiously and without financial charges: First Hawaiian Bank, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, Shikoku Bank and Iyo Bank. Mahalo to all of you
The organizing committee has received inquiries about a possible memorial for the Ehime Maru. The committee, in consultation with the mayor of Uwajima, considers it to be premature and requests that efforts be delayed until after the recovery of the Ehime Maru.
