Thermal Hotspot area near Puhimau Crater on Chain of Craters Road, which has reopened after period of seismicity. NPS Photo by Janice Wei |
CHAIN OF CRATERS ROAD and other previously closed roads are now open as unrest and seismicity have diminished in Kīlauea volcano's upper East Rift Zone (ERZ) and near its summit. Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park made the announcement Wednesday.
Areas accessed by Chain of Craters Road, Hilina Pali Road, and Kulanaokuaiki Campground are now open to vehicle traffic. Backcountry sites have reopened as well.
Since late July, an increase in earthquakes and seismic activity along the upper ERZ of Kīlauea resulted in many large cracks and ground faults on Chain of Craters Road and Maunaulu parking lot. Chain of Craters Road closed to vehicle traffic on August 21 after some cracks suddenly grew in size and depth after new earthquakes. Park staff monitored the road over the last week and determined the cracks were not increasing in size and travel at low speeds would not deteriorate the road further.
While the unrest has diminished, Kīlauea is one of the most active volcanoes on earth and conditions can change at any time. Visitors to Chain of Craters Road should drive with extra caution, obey the speed limit, and slow down for any and all cracks, humps, and wildlife.
The Park recommends that visitors always check the park website for updates, closures, and alerts that could impact their visit.
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HAWAIIAN IMMERSION SCHOOL , Ke Kula Nā ʻAʻaliʻi Kū Makani o Kaʻū, is planned and the community is invited to a public meeting on Saturday, Sept. 7 from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. at The Shirakawa Hotel in Wai'ohinu, located at 95-6039 Mamalahoa Hwy. The leaders for the school are these Alaka'i: Raylene Auli'i Fujikawa Moses, Berkely Yoshida and Nohea Ka'awa. Advisors are Kehau Mauga and Louisa Lee. Parent Advocates are Wai'ala Ahn, Cadence Feeley and Miki Moses.
The organizers describe it as "Ka'u's first ever Hawaiian Immersion School" and invite the public to "See our kula location and kukakuka with makua and keiki." They have chosen a Hawaiian proverb for their mission. It's No. 1226 in the book by Mary Kawena Pukui titled Ōlelo Noʻeau – Hawaiian Proverbs and Poetical Sayings. It says, "I lele no ka lupe i ke pola." Translated into to English, it says, "It is the tail that makes the kite fly."
The umbrella non-profit organization helping the project to get started is ʻO Kaʻū Kākou. OKK describes the immersion school on its webiste at https://www.okaukakou.org/about-2.
The OKK website lists the goals of the immersion school project:
"To create a place that supports Hawaiian language and cultural education through a Hawaiian immersion program; To raise community awareness of the Hawaiian language immersion programs by providing classes which will assist children and adults with ways to incorporate Hawaiian language into their homes and daily lives; To financially assist the Nā Aʻaliʻi Kū Makani with operational expenses not provided through other sources; To provide opportunities for professional enrichment and development for Nā Aʻaliʻi Kū Makani (NAKM) staff; To provide tuition scholarships to NAKM families."
The OKK website states the mission of the immersion school:
Raylene Auli'i Fujikawa Moses |
The OKK website gives the biographies of the immersion school leaders.
Berkeley Yoshida |
Nohea Ka'awa |
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Pāhala Hongwanji Pres. Wayne Kawachi and designer Kiko Ando dressed up for a previous Bon Dance. Photo by Julia Neal |
NA'ALEHU PUTS THE EXCLAMATION POINT on the end of Bon Dance Season, with the last dance of the year on this island, and its first Bon Dance since the COVID pandemic began. Following some 30 events at Buddhist temples and other venues around the island this summer, this Obon Ceremony & Dance will be sponsored by Pāhala and Nāʻālehu Hongwanjis.
It will be held at Nāʻālehu Hongwanji on Saturday, Sept. 14 with an Obon ceremony in the sanctuary at 4 p.m. Pāhala Hongwanji Taiko performs at 5:30. p.m. along with Paul Sakamot's Puna Taiko. Bon Dance
begins at 6 p.m. More taiko will will fill the 8 p.m intermission. Bon Dancing resumes, until 10 p.m. p.m.
Bon dance is a traditional dance in the round, with participants circling a tower where music is played, and the emcee calls the dances. There will be food and bon dance scarves and other items to purchase.
Obon season celebrates the end of the harvest and honors ancestors with the presentation of fresh vegetables, fruits and other foods on the temple altar. The tradition is mostly lost in Japan but remains alive in the Hawaiian Islands, brought here generations ago by immigrants working in the sugar plantations. Some people from Japan come to Kaʻū to see the bon dance each year, and also to enjoy traditional Japanese foods, Hawaiian style.
Pāhala Hongwaji President Wayne Kawachi said that everyone with or without traditional kimono, Happi Coats and other Japanese clothing is invited to circle the tower and to learn the dances, accompanied by singing, flutes, drums and other music. Bon dancers who go from Buddhist temple to temple around the island all summer will come to Nāʻālehu for the occasion.