Gyotaku & Fish Cutting Demonstration

On Sunday, members and guests were treated to an amazing Gyotaku Class led by Tracy Katano. We are so grateful to Tracy for sharing his love for Gyotaku with us. Everyone's fish prints were different and unique!

Members and guests also sat through an exciting fish cutting demonstration by Seiko from @cakesbyseiks. She showed us how to debone, skin, and plate sashimi. Seiko brought more than enough fish so that members and guests could make and eat various hand rolls and sashimi.

Thank you to our instructors Tracy and Seiko for sharing their experiences with us!

HJJCC Lei Po'o Workshop

On Sunday, May 1st, HJJCC members and guests gathered at Magic Island Beach Park to celebrate Lei Day together. Mahalo to our amazing instructor, Reeann, for teaching everyone how to make a beautiful lei po‘o. Everyone did an amazing job and we love how each one was original and different. It was a nice breezy and sunny day to gather together and socialize outdoors.

SFOC Give Aloha Events

Over the past few weekends, we were given the opportunity to lend a hand to the Sullivan Family of Companies in putting on their Give Aloha Mahalo Event at Turtle Bay.

Last weekend, our members visited the SFOC Warehouse and helped to pack 300 adult and 175 keiki thank you gift bags for attendees Then this weekend, members made the trek to Turtle Bay Resort and had our food service skills put to the test!

We had a lot of fun! Thank you to Foodland Hawaii and the Sullivan Family of Companies for everything you do for our community!

Young Business Roundtable: Cryptocurrency 101

Last week, we hosted an in-person Young Business Roundtable event, Cryptocurrency 101, featuring Kenny White of Shell Protocol, a Hawaii-based decentralized finance platform. Kenny gave a presentation on the basics of cryptocurrency, including discussion of blockchains, smart contracts, NFTs, DeFis, DAOs, and more. Members got to ask plenty of questions and network with each other before and after the presentation. Mahalo Kenny and everyone who joined us!

HJJCC Sake Tasting

HJJCC members and guests enjoyed a night of delicious food and sake at Hanale by Islander Sake. Owner Tama Hirose walked us through the process of making sake and shared his insight on sake in Hawaii.

We had the opportunity to sample three cold sake and a nice hot sake. He even treated members to a delicious line up of food including a tofu salad, beef, oyakodon, and refreshing dessert.

We are so thankful to Mr. Hirose and his staff for hosting our sake tasting event. It was so nice to see members socializing and bonding over great sake!

HJJCC Picnic in the Park

On Sunday, members got to enjoy a nice sunny day outdoors! We first played picture Scavenger Hunt, where members took pictures together at various places around Kapiolani Park. After lots of walking, members enjoyed a yummy bento and fellowship. After lunch, we played a series of fun team games.

We had such a great time seeing each other safely and in-person!

Hawaii Foodbank Emergency Food Box Packing

This past weekend, HJJCC members, with an assist from Honolulu Chinese Jaycees and JCI Hawaii representatives, lent a helping hand to Hawai‘i Foodbank to pack 330 Emergency Food Boxes for the Home Isolation Quarantine Food Services Program that serves individuals who have tested positive for COVID and have difficulty obtaining food and supplies during this time.

Our community is thankful for all the Hawaii Foodbank does, and we are happy to provide them with our support.

Mochi Pounding & Tenri Cultural Center Clean Up

Akemashite omedetō gozaimasu!

HJJCC members brought in 2022 with a fun and exciting experience, mochi pounding! Each member had the opportunity to pound mochi and then mold/wrap the mochi. We all enjoyed the results of our hard work - tasting the freshly-made mochi with anko.

Thank you to the Tenri Cultural Center and the Young Men's Association for taking us through the entire mochi-making process! We are so grateful to organizations like them for perpetuating Japanese traditions!

Young Business Roundtable: Purchasing in Paradise

On Thursday, January 13th, we kicked-off the new year with our virtual Young Business Roundtable event, Purchasing in Paradise, featuring fellow HJJCC member Evan Tom with Coldwell Banker Realty. Evan discussed the local real-estate market in the context of investments and the inflationary economy, and shared a data summary of the real-estate market in 2021 with projections into 2022. Thank you Evan!

Members also had the opportunity to participate in Q&A after the discussion, as well as engage in a few brief rounds of virtual networking breakout sessions.

HJJCC Virtual Cultural Celebration: Bunka no Hi

On Monday, HJJCC members and guests experienced a variety of Japanese activities virtually together in celebration of Bunka No Hi or a celebration of Japanese culture. Members and guests learned and participated in Nihon Buyo from Nishikawa Minokimi Sensei; Jadyne Yomono of Lotus Wrapping Co. taught us how to use Furoshiki to get ready for the holidays; and Sensei Terence Omori taught us a variety of breathing techniques through his many years of experience with Aikido.

Thank you to these instructors for passing down their love of the culture. It was definitely a night of celebration while embracing Japanese culture!

HJJCC Virtual Meet the Board Happy Hour

Mahalo to the HJJCC members and guests who joined us at our virtual Meet the Board Happy Hour on Wednesday! We hope you all enjoyed hearing more about our organization and meeting each other in breakout rooms. We even played a fun (and challenging) game of matching board members to their baby photos!

Shout out to Beer Lab HI for the happy hour beer set and to our guests from Rising Phoenix Jaycees and Honolulu Chinese Jaycees - it’s always nice getting to know fellow JCI Hawaii chapters.

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HJJCC Honolulu Zoo Community Service

On Saturday, members helped The Honolulu Zoo with some of their maintenance and conservation efforts by separating trash from, and sorting the contents of their aluminum/plastic recycle bins across the entire Zoo! In addition, we wiped down all of the signage as well.

Members also got a sneak peek at some of the animals before opening, a time when some of the feedings take place, and we were allowed to explore the Zoo once the work was done.

HJJCC Smile & Mingle Event

Last night was filled with smiles, fun and food at our final membership event of this fiscal year! Thank you so much to Brandon Miyagi for taking professional headshots for our members and guests! Shout out to Gyotaku Hawaii for hosting our event and allowing us to use the private room for our photo taking and to enjoy our yummy dinner and dessert!