March 16 , 2005
MEDIA CONTACT: Caroline Witherspoon
or Jocelyn Collado
Becker Communications
(808) 533-4165
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

JOURNEY WITH A KING CELEBRATION FEATURES RARE ARTIFACT AND MUSICAL ENSEMBLES FROM HAWAI‘I AND JAPAN

HONOLULU – In celebration of Bishop Museum’s newest exhibit, Journey With A King, the Museum, in partnership with Le Jardin Academy, will be presenting a special program on April 2, 2005 from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. The program will feature the Konan Brass Ensemble from Japan and the Honors Ukulele Choir of Le Jardin Academy.

Journey With A King invites visitors to experience the fascinating story of how two island kingdoms have embraced once another. From the first contact of a shipwrecked Japanese sailor to King David Kalākaua’s visit with Meiji Emperor Mutsuhito in 1881, guest will be able to see how this royal journey led to the influence of Japanese Americans in Hawai‘i today.

A historic photograph of a samurai, Gohachiro Namura, is one of the artifacts featured in the storyline of Journey With A King. The actual photograph will be on display for the first and only time during this exhibit celebration. The photograph, taken by a photographer named E. Brown, was one of the first of the Japanese people, and was brought to Hawai‘i by descendants of Namura.

This event celebrates another tie between Hawai‘i and Japan. Since 1992 Le Jardin Academy (LJA) in Kailua, Hawai‘i and the Konan Brass Ensemble, from the Konan Boys’ High School in Ashiya, Japan, have participated in an exchange program. Every 3 years the band visits Hawai‘i where they perform at various hotels and shopping centers and also experience a home stay with the LJA families. In exchange, the LJA Ukulele Choir visits the Konan Boys’ High School in Japan.

The Konan Brass Ensemble, formed in 1982, is a jazz band from Konan Boys’ High School in southern Japan. The band has played for many audiences throughout Japan including the World Health Organization (WHO) Conference held in Kobe, Japan in November of 2001. They have also performed for audiences in Hawai‘i, the Republic of Korea, France and Britain.

Le Jardin’s renowned Ukulele Choir has been entertaining audiences in Hawai‘i and overseas for the past 20 years! It performs locally at hotels, shopping malls and other special events throughout the year, and travels abroad to Japan and Canada.

A treasured resource of Hawaiian history and heritage Bishop Museum was founded in 1889 by Charles Reed Bishop as a tribute to his wife Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop, the last descendant of the royal Kamehameha dynasty. Located at 1525 Bernice Street, the Museum is open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is $14.95 for adults; $11.95 for youth 4-12 years, special rates for kama‘āina, seniors and military; children under 4 years and Bishop Museum Members are free. For information, call 847-3511 or visit www.bishopmuseum.org.