Visions of a world class Japanese Cultural Center in the heart of Kailua-Kona Kona are proceeding to the capital campaign stage to raise $5 million to purchase land mauka of Queen Kaahumanu Highway.
What started as a conversation in 2015 by a core group of residents as a dream to bring a cultural center to Kona has evolved into the creation of a strategic plan, securing a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation and identification of a 50-acre parcel ideal to develop the project.
“We have moved quite rapidly in terms of organizing the organization,” said Walter Kunitake, chairman of the Japanese Cultural Center of Kona’s board of directors. “We were looking all over the coast of Kona for a place to build. We looked at everything.”
They have set their sights on a 129-acre property that the owner is in the process of subdividing into three parcels, however, that has been hung up in the county since May. In the meantime, an engineering study has already been done for the 50 acres the nonprofit has eyed for the center with the conclusion it will be feasible for the project.
The vision for the center is to include a planned collection of venues including but not limited to a state-of-the-art multipurpose ballroom, concert hall, conference center, dojo, restaurant, Shinto Shrine, teahouse and outdoor amphitheater. In addition, a large and authentic Japanese garden with koi ponds, water falls, and rock gardens will also be included.
A coffee farm will showcase how Japanese immigrants meticulously grew and developed the world-renowned Kona coffee. Coffee processing with old-fashioned hardware will be displayed and stories of their honest hard labor will be told.
Kunitake said the mission of the Japanese Cultural Center of Kona is to preserve and share the history of the pioneering Japanese immigrants and their unique lifestyles in Kona. The Ccnter will also serve as a friendly and soothing gathering place for people from around the globe and for locals alike to experience, learn, and enjoy the many aspects of the Japanese culture.
“We are now working real hard on raising funds. We did receive $250,000 awarded from the state grant-in-aid to purchase land,” said Kunitake.
Kunitake said the nonprofit is also looking for Japanese donors because of the close ties Hawaii has with the country. Kunitake is a member of the U.S, Japan Council, whose mission is to bring U.S. and Japan closer together to make things happen, and at an October conference, was able to connect with many influential individuals who were interested in the development of the center.
“We are getting more and more believers, but we need to raise the money,” he said. “No money, no project.”
In addition to individual and corporate donors the organization has held fundraising events to raise money to purchase the land.
A fundraising gala will be held at Makae’o Events Pavilion at the Old Kona Airport on Sunday, Jan. 22. Doors open at 10 a.m. and will feature sake tasting, Japanese fusion food, silent and live auctions and entertainment by Mark Yamanaka and the Kona Choral Society. Tickets for the event are $150 and are available online atJapaneseCulturalCenterofKona.com
More information about the organization and the gala and how to purchase tickets are available on the website or by contacting Walter Kunitake at (808) 938-3624.
“This will be a gathering place for the world,” said Kunitake