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Courtesy photo
Courtesy photo
Okinawan folk singer and sanshin player Ayano Uema performed Sunday during the Aikane Festival at Hilo Daijingu Activity Hall. The festival is sponsored by the University of Hawaii at Hilo Japanese Student Association in observance of the 180th anniversary of King Kalakaua’s birth. Kalakaua is remembered as the king who invited 20,000 Japanese immigrants to Hawaii between 1885 and 1894. The festival also featured hula, Okinawan dance, taiko and Hawaiian music.