HONOLULU (Island News) — The Fukuoka All-Star Girls Basketball Team spent the week visiting Hawaii for a student sports exchange program. The Japanese team played with and competed against high school teams which built cultural connections and relationships with local players.
During the Fukuoka team’s time here, they visited Kalani, McKinley and Konawaena High School where they networked with other students and engaged in cultural activities like a Polynesian dance class while at Kalani. Their team competed in a number of goodwill games that they were all triumphant in.
On the Big Island, the Fukuoka team visited Country Samurai Coffee Farm with the Konawaena High School girls basketball team. They got to learn about the first Japanese immigrant experiences from owner Walter Kunitake, whose family is originally from Fukuoka.
“I don’t get to have these kinds of experiences, but the people of Hawaiʻi are so kind and explain things in an easy-to-understand way that I was able to enjoy it,” shared Fuka Takagi, a player on the Fukuoka team.
“One of my passions in life is just sharing my culture and being able to spread aloha with different people is amazing,” said Alina Stevenson, Kalani High School senior. “It’s just very different. It’s so much fun and I feel like everybody gets to bond in that way.”
