The world of Shishi is small, at least outside of Japan, so when there’s a hiccup or circumstances in one locale it can cause a chain reaction leading to Michele getting an invite to perform in Maui. I know, a big ask, but we are both dedicated to the craft and have accepted the challenge. So we’re off to Hawaii.
Another job title we’ve acquired is “Shishi Broker”. In January we picked up another Shishi in San Jose, with the intent to delivering it to Maui Taiko. So we’ve actually had two Shishi costumes in the house the past several months, and one purpose of this trip is following through on delivery.
Maui Shishi (MS) has her own Pelican case, which doesn’t fit in a standard sedan’s trunk. Our Uber driver to the train station was a little nonplussed and laid out a blue towel for MS to rest on, lest MS dirty up his car. I’m sure MS was fuming inside at the insult – Shishi is pristine!
A fellow passenger in the shuttle from Old Town station to the airport was much more respectful and made sure Shishi stayed on the luggage rack. I showed him a photo of what’s inside and he seemed excited.
We decided to first fly to the Big Island for several days. MS made it just fine to the minimal Kona airport, which in good Hawaiian style feels like an elaborate covered porch from the 1980’s.
For all its size the geography of Hawaii (the island) is pretty simple – it’s a big cone of lava about 80 miles across, sloping up at about 8% grade. Frequent lava flows from several volcanoes form a radiating patchwork. In about half of the patches it’s been long enough that the lava has eroded to support some jungle or coffee/chocolate/macadamia trees clinging to at most a foot of top soil. The other patches are a moonscape of black sharp lava stone, sometime in large broken sheets but usually a jumble of large cobbles.
The lava rock is porous, and there are hundreds of miles of vacant lava tubes under the surface. So except for a small glacial lake near the top, left over from the last ice age, there’s no standing fresh water. The abundant rain just soaks in and flows down to the ocean underneath.
There’s a ring road around the island. Hilo is on the wet eastern side and Kona-Kailua is on the drier western side. Bisecting Saddle Road connects the two towns, going up and over between Mauna Kea (Mt. Kea) and Mauna Loa. The saddle tops out at over 6500 ft.
We rented a VRBO house above Kona, up where the coffee trees grow.
It’s a delightful architect’s folly. Huge panel doors slide open on both sides. Above the doors is open to the outside, screened but otherwise at one with the surroundings. No A/C, no heat. As the owner warns, if you are a light sleeper bring ear plugs – the jungle is noisy! We love the sounds of the birds, frogs, chickens and other critters.
The garden has orchids, fruit and coffee trees.
The view has been enchanting.
Down near the water most buildings look like they are in good shape, but up above it’s a mishmash of faithful maintenance and decay. Some of the older buildings are being kept up, like the Hotel Manago (just a restaurant now, no lodgings), where we had a traditional dinner.
There’s not much sand yet on the Big Island, but there are lots of sea turtles and the water clarity is good. If you like hiking in the desert you would probably also like hiking in a lava field.
We took a snorkeling trip to Captain Cook bay and saw loads of reef fish, dolphins, sharks and a glimpse of a manta ray. No pilot whales though.
The currently active volcano is Kilauea, and we got lucky when we visited. We first spied a plume of gases while driving.
Eruptions at Kilauea come and go, and one had started this morning. The park was mobbed, but we managed to find a parking spot and stopped by the visitor center. The ranger in there suggested we get over to the caldera rim now, because you never know. So we hustled over there, the rain clouds cleared for fifteen minutes and we saw:
Then the rain moved back in and the view was gone. By 3pm the eruption was over, but by that time we were in Hilo having lunch and drying out.
I had no idea 2025 would be the Year of the Volcano for us!
Ken Chin-Purcell 