LAWAI — A sacred gathering place on Kauai, long recognized as a healing sanctuary by both native Hawaiians and Asian immigrants, will be the site of the Lawai International Center’s 18th annual Pilgrimage of Compassion on Sunday beginning at 1 p.m.
This special event, designed to help spread the concept and true meaning of “aloha,” is free and open to the public. Donations are accepted with gratitude. It will feature cultural activities for all ages.
Beginning at 2:30 p.m., pulsating drums of Taiko Kauai will signal the start of the celebration. Visitors will walk the path of the 88 shrines to the ancient sound of Shakuhachi (Japanese flute) melodies performed by Grand Master Riley Lee in a meditative pilgrimage of peace, compassion and healing.
Throughout the center’s extraordinary grounds, there will be exhibits, culinary specialities, demonstrations of Bonsai, mochi pounding, lei making, tapa printing, and coconut weaving, as well as a silent auction.
From the days of the earliest inhabitants of Kauai, the Lawai Valley has been recognized as a sacred place. Hawaiians journeyed there by foot from all over the island. In 1904, farm workers from Japan built the 88 miniature shrines visible today to honor a 1,000-mile pilgrimage on the island of Shikoku, Japan.
As new people make Kauai their home, they too are drawn to the center seeking respite and rejuvenation, said Lawai Center Director Lynn Muramoto.
The Lawai International Center is a nonprofit, nondenominational community project driven by its volunteers, whose earnest efforts are bringing the valley back to prominence as an international center of compassion, education, and cultural understanding.
It fosters educational and public awareness programs focusing on cultural traditions embodied in ancient Hawaiian, Japanese, Chinese, and other cultures. These include music, art, literature, drama, dance, and cultural and humanitarian teachings. The Pilgrimage of Compassion is made possible with support from the Hawaii Tourism Authority and private donations.
Car pool, if possible, and wear comfortable clothing.
Historical as well as current facts prove that Asian sugar plantation immigrants were and still are a detrimental factor in the demise of native Hawaiians through nepotism and racist polices resulting in an over representation of Japanese in all State agencies, including those of City departments of which 67% are of this race while it only comprises of 17% of Hawaii’s total population.
My older brother a native Hawaiian Vietnam veteran who used the GI Bill to get a degree in Accounting, the same field while serving 4 years of active service, worked as an intern for the State and developed a system that saved the State $millions, resulting in a special award from then governor George Ariyoshi, upon graduation from UH Manoa, applied for that same job as the internship was not hired, but a son of some Japanese Senator with no experience got hired instead! How many times has such similar conditions be done to promote their own race at the expense of more experienced and qualified people is quite apparent, but no one reports it in the news media.