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"Yuimaaru" is an Okinawan term which translates to "the circle of the people." Like aloha, the concept of yuimaaru is textured and more easily felt than put into words. It has been described as a combination of unity, compassion and sincerity, beyond geographic or cultural boundaries.
Honolulu writer and self-described "cybrarian" Shari Y. Tamashiro says yuimaaru means communities help one another, especially in times of need. It is in that spirit that the Hawaii United Okinawa Association (HUOA) recently established the Yuimaaru Maui Fund, with all donations going to the Hawaii Community Foundation's Maui Strong Fund.
The Yuimaaru Maui booth at HUOA's 41st Okinawan Festival, held last weekend at the Hawaii Convention Center in Honolulu, attracted a steady stream of donors. Online via PayPal, donations exceeded the $10,000 goal in less than a week. Many of the contributions came from Okinawa, not surprisingly. Maui County has had a sister city relationship with Hirara City, Miyako Island, Okinawa since 1965. Twenty years later, Okinawa and Hawaii officially became sister states. But the yuimaaru circle connecting Hawaii and Okinawa dates back to the aftermath of World War II and the true story of "Pigs from the Sea."
The Battle of Okinawa (April 1 - June 22, 1945) devastated the island. Ninety percent of the buildings were demolished, and over 100,000 civilians -- about a third of population -- were killed or committed suicide. After Japan's surrender and the end of the war, Hawaii's Okinawans mobilized to send clothing, medicine and other needed items to their homeland.
Because pork is a traditional staple of the Okinawan diet, and the numerous pig farms had been decimated in the battle, the local community resolved to help restart the industry. In six months, they raised $50,000 (the equivalent of about $500,000 today) and purchased 550 pigs from Omaha, Neb. Seven men who had immigrated from Okinawa to Hawaii volunteered to accompany the pigs aboard the USS John Owen. The voyage from Portland, Ore., took nearly a month, marred by several severe storms which destroyed the makeshift pigpens and sent more than a dozen of the livestock overboard. Finally, on Sept. 27, 1948, with nearly all water and food supplies depleted, the ship landed at White Beach, Okinawa with 536 pigs and the seven volunteers.
Within four years, Okinawa's pig population was restored to pre-war proportions, about 100,000. Besides their value as a food source, pigs were vital resources for farms, as their manure was used for fertilizer.
To this day, Okinawans speak with reverence and gratitude for this example of yuimaaru. In 2016, a stone monument to the Pigs from the Sea was erected in Uruma City, with a commemorative plaque which reads, in part:
"These pigs, which our Uchinanchu (Okinawan) brethren in Hawaii risked their lives to deliver, helped revive the Okinawan pig farming industry and solve the food shortage, greatly contributing to the island's postwar recovery ... This monument honors the men and women of Hawaii who ... undertook such a monumental task and whose efforts yielded such incredible results. It was constructed in the hopes that this magnificent story, which shows the strength of the bonds between the people of Okinawa and their Uchinanchu brothers and sisters in Hawaii, will continue to be passed down across generations."
Five years ago, Gov. David Ige issued a proclamation which stated, "In Okinawan culture, the practice of yuimaaru is the act of of being part of something greater than yourself, giving comfort to others with a warm heart, which goes hand in hand with the spirit of aloha ... (We) ask the people of the Aloha State to join us in celebrating the 70th anniversary of the Pigs from the Sea, honoring the Okinawan community in the Hawaiian Islands for their efforts in continuing the spirit of yuimaaru and aloha today, and recognizing those who did their part in bridging two cultures and two islands together."
Today's column began with an Okinawan term; I'll end it in the same way. Nearly all the online donors to the Yuimaaru Maui Fund chose to remain anonymous and refrained from posting comments. One, however, invoked a traditional Okinawan proverb: "Shikinoo chui shiihii shiru kurasuru." Let's live helping each other in this world.
* Kathy Collins is a radio personality (The Buzz 107.5 FM and KEWE 97.9 FM/1240 AM), storyteller, actress, emcee and freelance writer whose "Sharing Mana'o" column appears every other Wednesday. Her email address is kcmaui913@gmail.com.