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The Honolulu Festival Foundation named Baldwin High School as the winner of the Maui Mikoshi design contest March 14 at the Hawaii Convention Center.
A mikoshi is a portable shrine traditionally paraded through the streets of Japan during festivals. Mikoshi usually resemble a mini building and are carried on the shoulders of individuals in a procession using two to four poles.
Every year since the contest began in 2003, Maui schools have been invited to submit designs inspired by the festival's overarching theme.
To depict this year's theme, "Aloha and Mahalo – 30 Years of Cultural Celebration," Baldwin students Leah Nguyen, Kailee Miyake, Nikki Toyama, Jermalyn Tamag and Isaiah Coppa incorporated images expressing the cross-cultural goals of the Honolulu Festival while giving a nod to the festival's joyful atmosphere.
"Our students always embrace the challenge of the Maui Mikoshi design contest, and it is a privilege to watch their collective creativity take shape," said Rory Sato, a teacher at Baldwin and the Maui Mikoshi team advisor. "This year, particularly with the festival's theme of Aloha and Mahalo – 30 Years of Cultural Celebration, the students wanted to illustrate the importance of bringing together cultures and showcasing the strong relationship between Hawaii and Japan."
The Baldwin team tied together a number of design elements in their entry.
One side panel depicted "Ha" (breath of life) to show the connectedness across the Pacific Ocean that the festival has nurtured. By featuring two different ethnicities, the students illustrated the idea of cross-cultural interaction. Additionally, "Ha" is part of the word "aloha," further tying the imagery to the theme.
Another panel referenced the Nagaoka fireworks that have traditionally concluded the weekend of events for the Honolulu Festival.
Inspired by the iconic woodblock print, one panel with the "Great Wave" features a slight twist by substituting boats with a canoe. The students said this symbolizes that while bringing two cultures together can initially feel overwhelming, the effort is worthwhile because it leads to a better understanding of similarities and differences, allowing people to celebrate each other.
The inclusion of ikebana embodies harmony, beauty and peace, and the roof features a lei wrapping around all four sections, showcasing a different flower to represent Japan (sakura and camellia), the state of Hawaii (hibiscus), the island of Oahu (ilima) and Maui (lokelani). Intertwined with the flowers is a ti leaf lei, representing good luck, strength and protection, symbolizing the hope that the strong ties between Japan and Hawaii will continue.
The Baldwin students traveled to Oahu to showcase their winning mikoshi design at the Honolulu Festival in the Hawaii Convention Center Kamehameha Exhibit Hall throughout the weekend of March 14-15.
Baldwin students (front row, from left) Nikki Toyama, Kailee Miyake, Leah Nguyen, Jermalyn Tamag, Jaelynn Fukuda, Ginelle Bautista, Jai Kuraoka, Maundrey Cendana, (back row) Isaiah Coppa, Tatum Dugan Wood, Isaiah Jackson, Nikko Roy, Isamu Kahai, John Cochran and Logan Castillo. Photo courtesy Baldwin High School