Maui Kumu Hula Uluwehi Guerrero instructs hundreds of students in Japan. Courtesy photo

Maui Kumu Hula Uluwehi Guerrero recently released his first CD single, the beautiful song “Miyazaki i ka Hikina o ka Lā,” which he composed as a gift for Japanese hula students.

“In the path of the sun to heaven’s horizon,” Guerrero sings at the opening. “It is a land of verdant beauty, the place of the first emperor esteemed in all of Japan.”

“The whole reason for writing this is that 2025 marks 30 years that I’ve been going to Japan,” he explained. “On the CD (liner notes), I mentioned that in 1995 when I got introduced to bringing hula to Japan, Uncle George Naope asked me to continue to bring our style of hula to Japan.”

Teaching students in Japan, he realized that many were unfamiliar with places in Hawaii that were highlighted in songs.

“Some of them had no idea of different places because all the songs that were written for hula are about Hawaii, bringing forth the beauty and everything else that we have in our songs,” he said. “I figured what a wonderful way to celebrate them and to write a song about their own place so that they can honor the places that they’re from. The reason why we have hula, is for us to connect to our land, to our mountains, to our seas, celebrating all of the life that embraces all of that in the ‘aina. The songs they were learning were all about Hawaii.

“So maybe I’ll aloha them with a gift to celebrate their own place, and it was really well received. A lot of people felt connected to it right away because all of a sudden they were dancing about a place that they grew up in, in the Kyushu area.”

Miyazaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu holds significant importance in Shinto mythology and is often associated with the religion’s origins.

“It’s the birthplace of their gods,” he said. “Everybody in Japan knows the stories and the legends that come from that area where it started. I felt like what a wonderful place to celebrate that and so this song was born. It was to honor their places, the birthplace of their first emperor, and honor the different sacred places of Miyazaki.”

Uluwehi Guerrero released the beautiful song “Miyazaki i ka Hikina o ka Lā.” Courtesy photo

Guerrero had visited the region right before the pandemic hit and had been taken “to all these sacred places, these storied places, and it gave me a broader sense of what I was going to write about. I’ve been there a lot of times for hula and workshops, but I hadn’t connected to their sacred places and the places that are important to them. I started to work on the lyrics, and when the song was finished, I put it into a hula, and then I taught that over the internet, and that was pretty hard to do.”

Teaching hula from Hawaii over the web was no simple task. “Things like dancing and cultural things really aren’t made to be taught over the internet,” he noted. “But we stayed connected and it was a time where it was so challenging for everybody.”

When he traveled to Kyushu in May 2024, “500 dancers showed up for the premiere of the song. I was hoping that they would come out, you know, in the correct way of the dancing, and to my surprise, when I went up to present the song and everybody got up to dance, the stage was completely filled with dancers and around the aisles and everything. And they danced it perfectly. Every footstep, every hand movement was perfect. It just brought so much tears to my eyes to see the pride in all of these people and the acceptance of a gift to celebrate their culture.”

A Nā Hōkū Hanohano award winner for Male Vocalist of the Year and Hawaiian Album of the Year, Guerrero is looking forward to recording a new album. His previous albums include the wonderful “Uluwehi Sings Na Mele Hula Aloha – Beloved Hula Songs,” “In My Heart” and the Hōkū nominated “E Mau Ana Ka Ha’aheo: Enduring Pride.”

“I’m hoping that we can get into the studio soon,” he said. “I really wanted to put songs together that I’ve written over the past decade of my travels and experiences. I’m hoping that it will be out by the end of the year, or at least the beginning of 2026.”

The limited edition CD “Miyazaki i ka Hikina o ka Lā,” is available at Kaulupono Music (kauluponomusic@yahoo.com), and through Hālau Hula Kauluokala (uluwehi@kaulupono.com).