The Pan-Pacific Festival returns in 2024 after a 5 year hiatus.  Save the dates!  June 7, 8, 9, 2024.

About The Pan-Pacific Festival

The Pan-Pacific Festival is proud to announce its status as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Since the first Matsuri in Hawaii in 1980, the Pan-Pacific Festival has served as an opportunity to share and experience traditional Japanese culture. Over the years, the festival’s scope has expanded to include other cultures from Hawaii’s rich environment. With increased access to resources, our ability to foster a global community through education and experience is broadened with access to additional resources.

Pan-Pacific Festival Foundation
(2024)

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Ms. Susan Eichor

Mr. Shigeo Hone

Ms. Ann Kobayashi

Ms. Christine A. Kubota

Mr. Masayoshi Ogawa

Mr. Takashi Suzuki

TBA

President & Chief Operating Officer, aio Hawaii

Senior Vice President, First Hawaiian Bank

Former Honolulu City Councilmember

President, Damon Key Leong Kupchak Hastert

Chief Financial Officer, Kintetsu International Express (U.S.A.), Inc

President, Kintetsu International Hawaii Company

TBA

Ms. Susan Eichor

President & Chief Operating Officer, aio Hawaii

Mr. Shigeo Hone

Senior Vice President, First Hawaiian Bank

Ms. Ann Kobayashi

Former Honolulu City Councilmember

Ms. Christine A. Kubota

Director, Damon Key Leong Kupchak Hastert

Mr. Masayoshi Ogawa

Chief Financial Officer, Kintetsu International Express (U.S.A.), Inc

Mr. Takashi Suzuki

President, Kintetsu International Hawaii Company

TBA

TBA

OFFICERS

Mr. Yusuke Komoriya

Mr. Francis Arakaki

Mr. Masayoshi Ogawa

Ms. Shari McClellan

President

Vice President

Treasurer

Secretary

Mr. Yusuke Komoriya

President

Mr. Francis Arakaki

Vice President

Mr. Masayoshi Ogawa

Treasurer

ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEMBERS

Ms. Christine A. Kubota

Ms. Wendy Abe

Mr. Kainoa Daines

Mr. Rick Egged

Mr. Nate Gyotoku

Mr. Jon Itomura

Ms. Reyna Kaneko

Ms. Jenna Nakagawa

Mr. Keith Sakuda

Mr. Yoshio Sano

Mr. Steven Teruya

Chair, Pan-Pacific Festival Advisory Committee

Director of External Relations, U.S.-Japan Council

Chair, King Kamehameha Celebration Commission

President, Waikiki Improvement Association

President & Executive Director, Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii

Executive Director, Hawaii United Okinawa Association

President, Japan-America Society of Hawaii

Immediate Past-President, JCI Honolulu

President, United Japanese Society of Hawaii

Senior Vice President, Hawaii Aloha Life Enrichment Association

CEO, Honolulu Japanese Chamber of Commerce

Ms. Christine A. Kubota

Chair, Pan-Pacific Festival Advisory Committee

Ms. Wendy Abe

Director of External Relations, U.S.-Japan Council

Mr. Kainoa Daines

Chair, King Kamehameha Celebration Commission

Mr. Rick Egged

President, Waikiki Improvement Association

Mr. Nate Gyotoku

President & Executive Director, Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii

Mr. Jon Itomura

Executive Director, Hawaii United Okinawa Association

Ms. Reyna Kaneko

President, Japan-America Society of Hawaii

Ms. Jenna Nakagawa

Immediate Past-President, JCI Honolulu

Mr. Keith Sakuda

President, United Japanese Society of Hawaii

Mr. Yoshio Sano

Senior Vice President, Hawaii Aloha Life Enrichment Association

Mr. Steven Teruya

CEO, Honolulu Japanese Chamber of Commerce

Pan-Pacific Festival Mission Statement

In 2008 the logo was redeveloped as the Pan-Pacific Festival prepared for its 30th anniversary. The new logo now symbolizes the Festival more accurately: as an international festival bringing various cultures and people together and creating a more global community through the sharing and celebration of cultures.

The Pan-Pacific Festival achieves its mission by:

  • Planning and staging an assortment of high profile events located in and around Waikīkī. Through viewing of or participation in such events, people can appreciate and begin to understand other cultures and hopefully create connections and friendships with other they may have not crossed paths with otherwise.
  • Recruiting “grass roots” cultural organizations, locally and abroad for Festival event participation and encouraging them to include an educational aspect for the public.
  • Promoting event attendance through marketing campaigns abroad, locally to residents, and Waikīkī to visitors.

The Pan-Pacific Festival is an annual international cultural celebration held in Hawaiʻi during the month of June. The Festival features an eclectic assortment of cultural arts, crafts, and stage performances in a variety of events. Hawaii’s broad international tourism appeal and its multi-ethnic resident population make it the perfect location to cultivate intercultural friendships, goodwill, and understanding.

History of the Pan-Pacific Festival

In the late 1970’s the number of travelers from Japan to Hawaiʻi dramatically increased. A small group of people wanted to ensure that the increased interaction between these two cultures would be both enjoyable and educational.

Thus, the very first Matsuri in Hawaii was born in 1980. The word “MATSURI” is a Japanese word meaning “FESTIVAL”. Matsuri in Hawaii was envisioned as a means to enrich the lives of both participating artists and audiences, including Hawaiʻi residents and other travelers visiting Hawaiʻi, with a rewarding and participatory exposure to traditional Japanese culture.

Matsuri in Hawaii allowed visiting participants from Japan to share their music, crafts, traditions, and foods with others in the beautiful setting of world-famous Waikīkī, while Hawaiʻi residents and other Hawaiʻi visitors gained a deeper appreciation of Japanese sensibilities and cultural heritage. By highlighting traditional folk music and age-old arts and crafts and bringing internationally respected performers to Hawaiʻi, Matsuri in Hawaii has served Japan as a sort of cultural goodwill ambassador, introducing the people of Hawaiʻi and it’s many visitors to the richness of the Japanese culture. Today, the most popular events continue to be those that showcases the cultures of Japan, Hawaiʻi and the Pacific Rim.

In 1996 Matsuri in Hawaii became known as the Pan-Pacific-Festival as it broadened its capacity to include other cultures from Hawaii’s rich melting pot. However, the Festival is still called Matsuri in Hawaii in Japan and continues to have a strong following there.

In 2008 the logo was redeveloped as the Pan-Pacific-Festival prepared for its 30th anniversary. The new logo now symbolizes the Festival more accurately: as an international festival bringing various cultures and people together and creating a more global community through the sharing and celebration of cultures.

Pan-Pacific Festival Logo

The Pan-Pacific Festival logo has gone through several changes over the last 30 years. The most recent transformation was in 2008. The current logo was designed to incorporate the Festival’s current multicultural scope.

The two swirls are a representation of the ocean – an important source of food and where all life begins. It is a connection that all countries of the Pacific Rim share. The Festival participants come from very unique countries, but yet they all touch the very same waters of the Pacific Ocean. The splashes at the top of the logo further illustrate energy, activity and motion. It resembles the waves of the ocean which can bring plants and birds from miles away to grow and prosper in far away lands, Similarly, the Pan-Pacific Festival brings a diversity of cultures and people together to celebrate their heritage collectively here in Hawaiʻi.

The interconnection of the swirls symbolizes the sharing of cultures. This image embodies the goal of the festival, which is to foster goodwill and understanding: to cultivate friendship between people: and to nurture appreciation of diversity.

Flowers are an international symbol of friendship, often given in expression of love and appreciation. The Hibiscus represents the host state of Hawaiʻi and the Cherry Blossom represents Japan, the country from which the facilitating organization originated.

The circular shape of the logo symbolizes Earth and Humanity. The Pan-Pacific Festival is an international festival bringing various traditions and people together and creating a more global community through the sharing and celebration of cultures.