Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki paid a special visit to Hamilton Library on Sunday, Aug. 31, 2025. He was in town to attend the 43rd Annual Okinawan Festival and to celebrate the 125th anniversary of the Okinawans in Hawaiʻi. He, his wife Chieko Tamaki, and his entourage saw the different exhibits around the library and were shown some of the special materials from the Hawaiian Pacific, Maps, Hawley, and Hawaii Karate Museum Collections. He was especially interested in the karate materials.
Governor Tamaki thanked University Librarian Clem Guthro and presented him with a traditional Ryukyuan woven textile and 2026 Okinawan calendars. The UL presented the Governor with an executive notebook embossed with the Hamilton Library logo.
Lynette Teruya coordinated the governor’s visit, gathered materials from the collections for her presentation to the group in Japanese, and provided the delegation with refreshments and small gifts from the library. She would like to acknowledge Jodie Mattos and Ted Kwok for their assistance in providing the materials from their collections; her student assistant, Hatsuho Kinjo, for her extraordinary support with setting up and with cleanup; Clem Guthro for being there to receive the delegation on Sunday; and Stacia Garlach for taking photos of the event.
AloJapan.com