Last week, we hosted an in-person Young Business Roundtable event, Cryptocurrency 101, featuring Kenny White of Shell Protocol, a Hawaii-based decentralized finance platform. Kenny gave a presentation on the basics of cryptocurrency, including discussion of blockchains, smart contracts, NFTs, DeFis, DAOs, and more. Members got to ask plenty of questions and network with each other before and after the presentation. Mahalo Kenny and everyone who joined us!
HJJCC members and guests enjoyed a night of delicious food and sake at Hanale by Islander Sake. Owner Tama Hirose walked us through the process of making sake and shared his insight on sake in Hawaii.
We had the opportunity to sample three cold sake and a nice hot sake. He even treated members to a delicious line up of food including a tofu salad, beef, oyakodon, and refreshing dessert.
We are so thankful to Mr. Hirose and his staff for hosting our sake tasting event. It was so nice to see members socializing and bonding over great sake!
On Sunday, members got to enjoy a nice sunny day outdoors! We first played picture Scavenger Hunt, where members took pictures together at various places around Kapiolani Park. After lots of walking, members enjoyed a yummy bento and fellowship. After lunch, we played a series of fun team games.
We had such a great time seeing each other safely and in-person!
This past weekend, HJJCC members, with an assist from Honolulu Chinese Jaycees and JCI Hawaii representatives, lent a helping hand to Hawai‘i Foodbank to pack 330 Emergency Food Boxes for the Home Isolation Quarantine Food Services Program that serves individuals who have tested positive for COVID and have difficulty obtaining food and supplies during this time.
Our community is thankful for all the Hawaii Foodbank does, and we are happy to provide them with our support.
Akemashite omedetō gozaimasu!
HJJCC members brought in 2022 with a fun and exciting experience, mochi pounding! Each member had the opportunity to pound mochi and then mold/wrap the mochi. We all enjoyed the results of our hard work - tasting the freshly-made mochi with anko.
Thank you to the Tenri Cultural Center and the Young Men's Association for taking us through the entire mochi-making process! We are so grateful to organizations like them for perpetuating Japanese traditions!
On Thursday, January 13th, we kicked-off the new year with our virtual Young Business Roundtable event, Purchasing in Paradise, featuring fellow HJJCC member Evan Tom with Coldwell Banker Realty. Evan discussed the local real-estate market in the context of investments and the inflationary economy, and shared a data summary of the real-estate market in 2021 with projections into 2022. Thank you Evan!
Members also had the opportunity to participate in Q&A after the discussion, as well as engage in a few brief rounds of virtual networking breakout sessions.
Happy New Year!
HJJCC members teamed up with the 69th Cherry Blossom Festival Court and welcomed the new year by donating their time to the omamori sale at Daijingu Temple of Hawaii’s New Year’s Day Blessing this past weekend.
We wish you all the best in 2022!
Last Wednesday, HJJCC members got to enjoy a night filled with shopping and fun. It felt so good to support local small businesses!
Thank you to Ten Tomorrow for this wonderful opportunity for our members and for this amazing night!
Congratulations to Gina for winning the awesome giveaway filled with different items from all the vendors at the event!
On Monday, HJJCC members and guests experienced a variety of Japanese activities virtually together in celebration of Bunka No Hi or a celebration of Japanese culture. Members and guests learned and participated in Nihon Buyo from Nishikawa Minokimi Sensei; Jadyne Yomono of Lotus Wrapping Co. taught us how to use Furoshiki to get ready for the holidays; and Sensei Terence Omori taught us a variety of breathing techniques through his many years of experience with Aikido.
Thank you to these instructors for passing down their love of the culture. It was definitely a night of celebration while embracing Japanese culture!
This weekend, members and guests experienced making cute and delicious Jack O’ Lantern manju with Mrs. Lillian Yajima. Mrs. Yajima taught us step-by-step how to make these adorable treats and we are so thankful to her for passing down her tradition and knowledge to us!
We kicked off our first Young Business Roundtable (YBR) session on September 23rd, which featured a virtual presentation and Q&A session with Cynthia Yamasaki from EEpath. She spoke to our group about creating and achieving power goals!
Thank you to everyone who joined! We hope to see you at our next event!
Mahalo to the HJJCC members and guests who joined us at our virtual Meet the Board Happy Hour on Wednesday! We hope you all enjoyed hearing more about our organization and meeting each other in breakout rooms. We even played a fun (and challenging) game of matching board members to their baby photos!
Shout out to Beer Lab HI for the happy hour beer set and to our guests from Rising Phoenix Jaycees and Honolulu Chinese Jaycees - it’s always nice getting to know fellow JCI Hawaii chapters.
On Saturday, members helped The Honolulu Zoo with some of their maintenance and conservation efforts by separating trash from, and sorting the contents of their aluminum/plastic recycle bins across the entire Zoo! In addition, we wiped down all of the signage as well.
Members also got a sneak peek at some of the animals before opening, a time when some of the feedings take place, and we were allowed to explore the Zoo once the work was done.
Last night was filled with smiles, fun and food at our final membership event of this fiscal year! Thank you so much to Brandon Miyagi for taking professional headshots for our members and guests! Shout out to Gyotaku Hawaii for hosting our event and allowing us to use the private room for our photo taking and to enjoy our yummy dinner and dessert!
The HJJCC International Relations Committee and Members gathered at Pitch Sports Bar for a casual IR Pau Hana event to discuss past and future projects and plans! Members then stayed to cruise, talk story and enjoy each others company!
Thank you to the IR Committee for all your hard work this year!
If you are interested in joining or learning more about the IR Committee, email international.relations@hjjcc.com.
On June 18th, we had our last Young Business Roundtable event of our fiscal year featuring Warren Daubert, Founder & Creative Director of Daubert Design Co. at the Entrepreneurs Sandbox in Kaka‘ako. We learned about how utilizing a Discovery Session can help teams align, inspire, and collaborate with one another to evaluate processes, find consensus, and attain their goals.
After the presentation, participants stayed to catch up, network and pau hana the evening away.
Arigatou to our YBR Committee for investing your time and effort into planning these virtual and in-person events! If you are interested in joining or learning more about this committee, please email YBRhawaii@hjjcc.com.
To wrap up our fiscal year, we partnered with the Honolulu Botanical Gardens to clean the banks of the Nuuanu Stream at the Liliuokalani Botanical Garden. We were joined by a couple stream cleaning regulars from 808 Cleanups.
Our members cleared large amounts of trash throughout the park and along the stream from Kuakini Street to School Street and enjoyed a casual picnic at the park!
Thank you everyone for your support this year. We look forward to what next year brings!
Members and friends raised their glasses with us this Memorial Day weekend for our second beer tasting fundraising event of the year, Cheers & Beers! Guests enjoyed food, beverages, and a lucky draw. Thank you to all who came to support our HJJCC programs!
A special thank you to Beer Lab Hawaii for hosting our group at this private event!
We had a great opportunity to give back to the land within the Kalauao Ahupua‘a at Kaonohi tucked away right next to Pearlridge Shopping Center! Check out the before and after!
Many of us entered the lo‘i and were tasked with stomping the mud, softening the lo‘i for planting. Others worked on clearing an irrigation ditch allowing water from the lo‘i to drain and flow freely. Not only did we get our hands and legs muddy, we also learned a lot about the history of the area along with some of the natural science behind farming the lo‘i!
Last night, members gathered for our annual HJJCC General Membership Meeting & Elections. Congratulations to our newly elected 2021-2022 Board of Directors! We would also like to thank JCI Hawaii President, Bixby Ho, for welcoming and swearing in our new members in attendance who joined during the 2020-2021 fiscal year!
