ABOUT maui matsuri
Maui Matsuri started as a Japanese festival on Market Street in Wailuku Maui in May 1999. It is the only Japanese festival on Maui and it is put together totally by a team of volunteers. The perpetual theme for this festival is “Kodomo No Tame Ni“, which is part of our logo. It translates to “For the Sake of the Children”. Our focus is to provide an environment for families to share and learn about the Japanese culture and pass down traditions. Ancestors came here for a better life not only for themselves but for their children and for generations to come. In this spirit, we end the festival with a traditional obon dance which encourages all ages, all religious denominations, and all ethnicities to come together to dance in honor of all ancestors.
This year’s t-shirt design is based on our theme this year “Okagesama de” (Because of you I am), to honor the victims of the Maui fires in August 2023. The design also features the “Toro Nagashi” (floating lantern) in memory of the many souls lost in the fire. You can purchase this year’s t-shirt on May 18 and May 25 at the t-shirt table, while supplies last.
Jonathan Yukio Clark
Jonathan Yukio Clark is a multi-disciplinary artist working in sculpture, painting, printmaking, textile, and drawing. He is Director at Maui Arts & Cultural Center’s Schaefer International Gallery, where he leads the curation and implementation of the gallery’s exhibits program. Born and raised on Maui, he received an MFA in Studio Art from New York University and a BFA in Painting from Washington University in St. Louis with a second major in East Asian Studies, in addition to spending time as a research student in printmaking at Kyoto Seika University in Japan. He has exhibited at venues in New York and Hawai‘i, and his work is included in the Art in Public Places Collection of the Hawai‘i State Foundation on Culture and the Arts.