The 10th anniversary of Musical Nostalgia will feature local performers singing favorite Japanese songs at the Crown Room of the Naniloa Volcanoes Resort on Saturday, Sept. 15, from 2-4 p.m.
The show also will star Kaori Yamada, a soloist who has studied voice in Japan, the United States and Italy. Yamada has participated in the 90th anniversary of the Gifu Kenjin Kai Commemorative Concert in Brazil and at the Japan China Goodwill 35th Cultural Exchange Event.
This year’s format of Musical Nostalgia will be informally organized like Japan’s famous “Red and White Song Festival,” where teams based on gender compete against each other.
Male singers will include Sidney Fuke, Charles Ikeda, Stanley Iwashita, the Rev. Jeffrey Soga and Hiroshi Suga. The women are Lorraine Asakura, Sachi Imaizumi, Thelma Kawate, Rena Omoto, Nancy Okimura, Kathy Okunami, Kikuno Moriwaki Goh, Nancy Kamile Sachiko Tanaka, Grace Tomita and Yoshiko Shimada.
The emcees for this lively song competition will be Charles Ikeda and Pauline Fukunaga.
Tiana Honda and Krystal Koshiyama, students from the Japanese Club at Waiakea High School, will premiere their production of a 10-year retrospective of Musical Nostalgia at the event. The signature poster for Musical Nostalgia was designed by Alex Yachi, also from the WHS Japanese Club.
Muscial Nostalgia is a benefit for the Hawaii Japanese Center, a nonprofit organization seeking to “preserve the past to build the future.”
“This year’s Musical Nostalgia is dedicated to Ruth Fujimoto, the founder of the event,” said spokeswoman Gina Hara Chun. “All proceeds of the benefit go towards the Hawaii Japanese Center’s Ruth Fujimoto Scholarship, which will be awarded to graduating high school seniors from the Big Island.”
Tickets are available for a $15 tax-deductible contribution at the following locations: KTA Puainako, KTA Downtown, Hilo Hongwanji, Hilo Meishoin, Puna Hongwanji and at the door on the day of the event. For additional information, please email hjchawaii@gmail.com.
