2022 Chrysanthemum Festival Queen Crowned

The coronation of the queen of the 68th Chrysanthemum Festival was held December 3 at the Kihei Community Center. The queen is Kaitlin Kitagawa, a senior at King Kekaulike High School, daughter of Kathy Suzuki-Kitagawa and Glen Kitagawa of Makawao.

The princesses are:

• Ava Takahama, a junior at Kamehameha Schools Maui, daughter of David and Michelle Takahama of Makawao.

• Brie-Ann Fukutomi, a sophomore at Baldwin High School, daughter of Daryl and Dawn Fukutomi of Wailuku.

• Emi Sado, a junior at Maui High School, daughter of Kristina Toshikiyo and Michael Sado of Kahului.

The queen is the contestant who raises the most money, through ticket sales and donations, for festival sponsor Maui’s Sons and Daughters of the Nisei Veterans (MSDNV). Contestants represent the MSDNV and the Nisei Veterans Memorial Center (NVMC) at various events throughout the year.

The festival was created as the Chrysanthemum Ball, a ballroom-dance affair, by the Maui AJA Veterans Inc. as a way to fund its community service in areas such as youth sports and scholarships. The veterans club was formed as soldiers returned from Europe and the Asia-Pacific areas after World War II.

AJA stands for Americans of Japanese ancestry. Most of the soldiers were nisei, or the second generation of Japanese Americans. In 2007, the event name was changed to Chrysanthemum Festival, to reflect its focus on Japanese culture. The next year — with the core group of veterans becoming older and less able to do projects such as the festival — Maui AJA Veterans turned over the event to the MSDNV. Maui AJA Veterans Inc. disbanded in 2016.

Festival proceeds fund scholarships and MSDNV’s historical preservation projects, which are done with the NVMC.

Essay Contest

Japanese cultural values and their effect on the AJAs who fought in World War II are the topic of an annual essay contest for the festival contestants and their escorts. This year’s winners were Princess Ava in the girls category and Christian Fernando, who escorted Princess Emi, in the boys category.

This year’s essay topic was “chugi,” which refers to loyalty, the consistent adherence to a cause, principal or person. It is defined as faithfulness, truth and fidelity. Essays addressed each writer’s understanding of the concept of “chugi,” how it played a role in the lives of nisei men as they entered and fought in World War II, and how it could be a useful value to adopt in the writer’s life.

Cash prizes were awarded to the entrants. MSDNV President Leonard Oka noted that a major purpose of his group and the Nisei Veterans Memorial Center “is to perpetuate the history of our fathers, who served so gallantly in World War II.” He noted it is just as important for the sons and daughters group to understand and to pass on the values that were ingrained in these nisei soldiers by their issei, or first generation, parents.

Event Traditions

The feature of the annual event is the coronation and the court’s traditional ballroom dance performance. The contestants and their escorts attended weekly sessions with ballroom dance instructors Jeffrey and Lydia Dela Cruz to prepare for the performance.

In addition to boys essay winner Christian, the escorts were Drew Otani (Queen Kaitlin), Kaleikaumaka Roback (Princess Ava), and Reel Yoshida (Princess Brie-Ann).

The dance segment was preceded by special musical performance by Nani Watanabe and students from Japan Honami Koishi, Natsuka Ikeya and

Nodoka Dorin, who are on Maui through the Maui Language Institute Program. Each contestant also has a boy to hold a chochin (Japanese lantern) to light her path as she makes her entrance at the festival, and a flower girl who presents a bouquet after the coronation.

The chochin holders were Mason Coleon, Austin Fukuda, Cruz Galicinao, and Brayden Kitagawa. The flower girls were Alyssa Ching, Leah Ige, Mari Sado, and Ekela Jean Yatsushiro.

The festival offers exhibits, demonstrations, entertainment and dinner. Entertainment also included Japanese songs sung by Yumi Takedatsu, classical Japanese dances by students of Matsudai Dance Academy and instructor Yaeko Yamamoto, and Zenshin Daiko, led by Anthony Jones.

Cultural activities were a calligraphy demonstration by the Reverend Shinkai Murakami of Wailuku Hongwanji Mission, flower arranging by the Mokichi Okada Association (MOA), a Japanese fishing game provided by the Japanese Cultural Society of Maui, and a children’s activity table by King Kekaulike High School AVID students.

MSDNV co-sponsored the 2020 event with the County of Maui. MSDNV President Oka and member Gary Nakama chaired the Chrysanthemum Festival committee.