Re: Hawaii

[Akisa]

My Japanese wife and I are thinking of going to Hawaii for vacation this year. We would like to hangout with a Japanese crowd. I know that there are alot of Japanese people in Hawaii, but does anyone know where is a good place to go?

[sirwanksalot]

My Japanese wife and I are thinking of going to Hawaii for vacation this year. We would like to hangout with a Japanese crowd. I know that there are alot of Japanese people in Hawaii, but does anyone know where is a good place to go?

Sounds like you should go to JAPAN. If you want to hang out with Japanese then don't you think Japan is the logical choice.

By the way most of the Japanese in Hawaii that aren't not tourists are college students, nampa boys and girls, and ladies married with American men.

[Akisa]

Thanks for the advice. You're right Japan is a great place to see Japanese people, but we want to go to Hawaii. Any cities that are known for their Japanese influence?

[sirwanksalot]

Thanks for the advice. You're right Japan is a great place to see Japanese people, but we want to go to Hawaii. Any cities that are known for their Japanese influence?

The place known most for Japanese influence the most is Pearl Harbor. Hawaiians don't hate Japanese, since the population is about 30% nissei Japanese American, but don't love them either. There are many Japanese tourists in the Waikiki area so that part of Honolulu has the most "influence" from Japanese. Waikiki is NOT true Hawaii. If you go to Hawaii you should SEE Hawaii, not look for Japan. I wouldnt go around asking the locals that question.

[Akisa]

If you go to Hawaii you should SEE Hawaii, not look for Japan.

Ummm...we would rather see what WE want to see. Maybe the next vacation after this one we will try to see what you want us to. Actually, you should just go on a vacation yourself.

[Big Booger]

I just don't get why you want to go to Hawaii to hang out with Japanese people either...

That'd be like me going to Ireland to meet Inuit or something..
But hey whatever floats your boat. I am sure Honolulu is right up your alley.

Just out of curiosity, why are you looking for a Japanese crowd specifically?

[djgizmoe]

Big Booger's right. I just came back from living on Oahu, and Honolulu (and especially Waikiki) is the place to go if you're looking to hang out with Japanese. But Sirwanksalot is also right about the kind of Japanese you're likely to encounter living in Hawaii. Nikkei and Japanese living in Hawaii are usually in the business of servicing Japanese tourists, not hanging around with them in their free time...

I've got two suggestions. First, if you're staying for more than two weeks, suggest to your wife that she enroll in one of the many private English schools there. I would suggest ICC; they've been around for awhile, have a decent curriculum and staff and they've got about 60% Japanese students, which means your wife will have instant pals (the other 40% is a rather mysterious mix of Swiss, Germans and Koreans!). They also have optional student excursions planned nearly every day; don't know if you'll be able to tag along for all the events, but it'll certainly keep your wife busy, and she might learn a little English (and Hawaiian culture) in the process.
http://www.icchawaii.edu
http://www.intstudy.com/articles/hawaiienglish.htm

Also if your wife has a JCB credit card, then you can take advantage of the JCB Plaza in the Waikiki Shopping Plaza. There are an unfortunate group of women there who are obliged to fulfill ANY requests of JCB cardholders (including searching for tours, making reservations, etc.) in Japanese for FREE. Might be a good place to check out.
http://plaza.jcb.co.jp/travel/chiiki_travel/plaza_index.html

And if you want to hang out with Japanese, why not just go with a Japanese tour group? There are a bizillion such tour packages you could try through H.I.S. or other travel agencies. The people on the tour with you will probably be, on average, a lot OLDER than the folks you'd meet at, say, ICC, but if cruising around with retired folks is your cup of tea...
If you have any other specific questions about Oahu stuff, just ask.

[Akisa]

Thanks for the information, about Hawaii. My wife's English is perfect, so I can't suggest an English school, but I will consider the locations you described. She just graduated with a Master's in Microbiology.

[GridReaper]

I live in Honolulu (my wife lives in Osaka, but that's another topic).

If you want to see and meet other Japanese people, Waikiki and the University of Hawaii (at Manoa) are great places for that. Take a few of the university sponsored activities (like kayaking) and you should have a good chance to meet other nihonjin. There are a few Japanese temples here, but they aren't nihonjin magnets. If you want a Japanese-popular beach outside of Waikiki, go to Haunauma Bay, it has a beautiful coral reef with fish unafraid of people.

Generally on Oahu, the farther away you are from Waikiki and Kahala the less likely you are to see Japanese people.

Maui is generally an island of white hippies. Stay away from Lahaina, I love that place (it's a carbon copy of Key West) but I can go days without seeing any Japanese people there.

Kauaii is an outdoor paradise with many Japanese at the many beautiful parks there.

The Big Island of Hawaii has a lot of Japanese in Kona, but hardly any on the other side of the island in Hilo. You can see a few Japanese tour groups at the volcano sites.

[GomiGirl]

Still curious as to your motivation to hang out with a Japanese crowd... care to enlighten us?

We are FG - we have heard it all here so don't be shy.

[Adhesive]

Other than for sex, why purposefully seek out Japanese people? You guys giving a dissertation on Luis Vuitton or something???