Hawaii residents and visitors will get an early look at 10 of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders — sort of — at Teddy Bear World Hawaii at 2155 Kalakaua Ave. in Waikiki.
As part of its first anniversary, and to honor some of the leaders from the 21 nations coming to Hawaii for APEC, Teddy Bear World’s Korean-based parent company created life-size teddy bears resembling President Barack Obama and nine other leaders.
The bears "are all done in Korea," said General Manager Steven Jahng, and will represent Japan, Canada, Australia, South Korea, Russia, China, Mexico, New Zealand and the Philippines, Jahng said.
The APEC bears will add topicality to the interactive and animatronic displays at the year-old attraction and will be available for the general public to see Thursday, following an invitation-only anniversary reception Wednesday. Each APEC bear will be identified with a "full-color print of the country they represent so people can recognize the bear" as being the delegate from that country.
"We’re actually going to try to give the bears to the delegates," said Jahng.
Teddy Bear World Hawaii averages 500 visitors on weekdays and about 700 on weekends, and has welcomed 150,000 since opening. Guided tours, led for the most part by retired teachers, take two hours, and each paid admission allows for same-day re-entry, should visitors want to take a break for food.
Temari Trash & Treasure Time
The nonprofit Temari Center for Asian and Pacific Arts will stage its 30th annual Trash & Treasure sale from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday on the fifth floor of the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii.
The fundraiser supports Temari’s mission to perpetuate traditional and nontraditional Asian and Pacific art forms.
Many of the artisans are former Temari students, said co-founder Ann Asakura. "They learned stuff from us," and some went on to form businesses that have sustained them and their families. Temari was founded 33 years ago by Asakura and Reynold Choy of the renowned lei-making family.
Artist Grant Kagimoto of Cane Haul Road design fame, and current president of Temari, created a logo for this year’s event.
Temari could pack the Manoa Grand Ballroom and the covered outdoor patio with vendors, but "we always limit artists we pick because we want them to have space," Asakura said. At the same time, Temari offers space to Bamboo Ridge Press and nonprofits that have supported it over the years.
Temari’s first sale was pulled together by faculty members who cleared their studios to sell items at its former 10th Avenue site. Purchases by faculty and students essentially moved the inventory from one house to another in keeping with the concept that "one person’s trash is another person’s treasure," which is how the event got its name.
Members of Temari and JCCH will be allowed in an hour early for a preview. Parking at JCCH will be free with a $10 purchase in the downstairs gift shop.
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On the Net:
» www.temaricenter.com
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Reach Erika Engle at 529-4303, erika@staradvertiser.com or on Twitter as @erikaengle.
