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THIS WILL BE A GREAT WEEK

 May 1 is May Day in Hawaii.  Celebrated in so many ways:

Celebrations occur on each island, but the largest Lei Day Celebration will be at Queen Kapiolani Park of Waikiki:

BANDSTAND: 

9 a.m. - 9:45 a.m. Royal Hawaiian Band

10 a.m. - 10:45 a.m. Nā Wāhine o ka Hula mai ka Pu‘uwai 


11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Investiture Ceremony for the 2022 Lei Queen and Court

12:30 p.m Official Opening of the Lei Contest Exhibit by the 2022 Lei Queen & Court

12:30 p.m. - 1 p.m. Nā Pua Lei o Lanakila Hula Hui

1:15 p.m. - 1:45 p.m. Sean Na‘auao

2 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. Del Beazley

2:45 p.m. - 3:15 p.m. Hālau Hula o Hōkūlani

3:30 p.m. - 4 p.m. Kawika Kahiapo

4:15 p.m. - 4:45 p.m. NUE

5 p.m. - 5:30 p.m. Mana Maoli

 
The Hawaiian Steel Guitar Association will play in the lei exhibit area (open area between
the bandstand and the Waikīkī Shell), from 10 a.m. - 3 p.m.
 
The Lei Contest Exhibit will accept fresh floral contest lei from 7:30 a.m. -     9 a.m.
The official ceremonial opening of the lei exhibit is 12:30 p.m. The exhibit will be open
to the public from 1 p.m. - 5:30 p.m. in the openarea between the bandstand and the Waikīkī Shell.
 
Come to Kūlana Lei, a village of Hawaiian artisans, as they share their talents and skills with exhibits and 
demonstrations throughout the day (10 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.). Please share your photo memories with us via social media with the hashtag #LeiDayCelebration.
 
In addition to Kūlana Lei, craft, lei and food vendors will also be in the park all day. All events are free and open to the public. Information subject to change.

This is Golden Week in Japan:

  • Began on Friday, April 29 with Showa Day, the birthday of the late Emperor Hirohito.  
  • Other Holidays are purposely inserted, like Constitution Day on May 3, Greenery Day (to honor the environment--yes, this one was a stretch) on May 4 and Children's Day on May 5, when paper/plastic colorful fish are flown and something called wagashi, or Japanese sweets are served.
  • Sorry, no tourists allowed in Japan yet, but Hawaii looks forward to this week because Japanese tourists are allowed to leave the country, and many come to Hawaii.
    • Alas, the numbers this year were low, only a bit more than 10% of 2019.
    • One other reason than the pandemic is that the American dollar just hit a 20-year high, 130 yen to the dollar.  It was 76.5 yen to the dollar in 2011, but 144.7 yen to the dollar in 1998 and 358 yen to the dollar in 1971.
    • This means that if a person from that country visits the USA, when you further add the 3-5% transaction fee, they would pay almost double the amount for everything from hotel rooms to gifts to food.
    • Japan should open up to tourists around mid-summer, and if you don't use yen but your credit card, this would be a good time to go there, as we will in October.

President Joe Biden also declared this Hurricane Preparedness Week.  Looks to be an above-average season in 2022, especially in the Atlantic.

May 5 is on Thursday, and is a big drinking day in the USA, but not in Mexico, Cinco de Mayo.  However, this means the celebration will extend over 3 days, for most cities will host activities on Saturday.


I regularly write about this day.  Here is one from 2015.  Our Kenji (Sumida) Golf Group spent numerous Cinco de Mayos golfing in the general Napa area.   We now and then went to Reno and Las Vegas.  This photo from a decade ago. 

Here a belated one at 15 Craigside.  Of course margarita is the traditional drink.  I will have an early Cinco de Mayo tonight, as featured will be the 15 Craigside Mexican Tacos, enhanced with Japanese Wagyu Beef.

May 7 brings the Kentucky Derby, which is always held on the first Saturday in May.  I annually post on this day, featuring the cuisine of the event and Mint Julep.  I'll again do so on May 7.

About the month of May, which begins today, we will have:

  • Asian Pacific American Heritage Month.
  • Bicycle Month.
  • National Burger Month.
  • National Golf Month.
  • National Military Appreciation Month.
  • Older Americans Month.  Interesting that they borrowed 15 Craigside's theme.
If you book a flight to Hawaii from North America on Hawaiian Airlines, they will give you a free vanda orchid lei when you arrive.  You can click on a unique link to access this promotion.
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