More than three decades ago, former Hawaii Gov. George Ariyoshi spearheaded the formation of a sister-state relationship between Hawaii and the Japanese prefecture of Fukuoka, the first such partnership in Hawaii.
On Monday it came full circle when Hawaiian Airlines became the only carrier to offer year-round daily service between Honolulu and Fukuoka.
Ariyoshi, 86, and his wife, Jean, boarded Hawaiian’s inaugural flight for the nine-hour, 20-minute trip to Fukuoka where Ariyoshi planned to meet with the governor, legislators and private business leaders. The flight, which carried 172 passengers on the Boeing 767-300ER aircraft, had special meaning to Ariyoshi because of the sister-state relationship he led in 1981 and because his father, Ryozo Ariyoshi, came to Honolulu from Fukuoka.
"I’m happy for this flight for a number of reasons," Ariyoshi said while waiting in the terminal to board. "No. 1, because of my past and my relationship. But especially because I created a sister-city relationship, and I did not want to create the relationship unless I was given some insurance that both sides — from the Fukuoka side and the Hawaiian side — that the relationship would become a very meaningful one. That’s the commitment I got and, I am very pleased that it’s been since 1982 or thereabouts that both sides have tried to be very active."
Ariyoshi said the Fukuoka Kenjinkai — a group of Hawaii residents with ties to Fukuoka — has sponsored Hawaii athletes’ trips to Fukuoka and arranged for Hawaii students to stay with families there. Fukuoka has reciprocated, he said.
"I’m very pleased that has happened and, because of that, this direct flight from Hawaii to Fukuoka is going to make those activities more easier, more meaningful," said Ariyoshi, who was governor from 1973 to 1986. "I’m grateful for Hawaiian Airlines for starting this inaugural service. I think it will be a very successful service."
Fukuoka is the third destination in Japan and the fourth in Asia that Hawaiian has launched in the past 17 months. It was preceded by nonstop service to Tokyo (November 2010), Seoul (January 2011) and Osaka (July).
Delta Air Lines in December began nonstop service between Honolulu and Fukuoka but now operates the flights only in the summer.
"Fukuoka is a continuation of our strategy of growing into markets from which we expect to see increasing numbers of visitors to Hawaii," Hawaiian Airlines President and CEO Mark Dunkerley said in a statement.
He was in Fukuoka on Monday to prepare for ceremonies following the inaugural flight’s arrival.
Fukuoka is the economic center of Kyushu, the southernmost and main Japanese island. About 13 million people live on Kyushu, with 5 million of those in Fukuoka prefecture.
The new service will bring about 100,000 new air seats annually to Hawaii. It will generate an estimated $156 million in visitor spending and $17 million in tax revenue annually, according to the Hawaii Tourism Authority.
Keiichi Tsujino, president and CEO of Japanese tour operator JTB Hawaii Inc., said the agency has put together package tours coming from Fukuoka to Hawaii.
"We get various kinds of tourists, mainly honeymooners and those who want to have the wedding ceremony here," said Tsujino, who also flew on the inaugural flight. "This is a big market. When the wedding couple comes here with relatives, the father and the mother, usually the average number of other people attending the wedding is eight. So if we get one couple, we get 10 customers as tourists."
Tsujino calls Hawaii "the best destination" for the Japanese market and said that at its peak, in 1997, visitor arrivals from Japan to Hawaii amounted to 2.2 million.
"Now it’s 1.2 million, almost half," he said. "(The Hawaii Tourism Authority) would like to increase this number by 300,000, to 1.5 million, in the next three years. For this purpose, Fukuoka is very, very important."
Ariyoshi praised Dunkerley for expanding Hawaiian Airlines’ reach.
"He’s done a marvelous job of expanding routes to different places — not just Japan, but other places," Ariyoshi said. "That’s very good for the company. He has taken Hawaiian and put it in very important spots in Japan. It’s a great convenience for people in Japan, and I think they will show their gratitude for this and they will continuously have more people coming from Japan."
Angela Laprete, who accompanied her 10-year-old son, Aidan James, on Monday’s flight, said he was being flown to Fukuoka to play the ukulele in an event there for the airline.
"I’m excited," said Aidan, a student at Hahaione Elementary School in Hawaii Kai. "Hawaiian Airlines brought me to New York (when Hawaiian announced a partnership with JetBlue in January), and they thought I did a good job and they brought me again to here."
Laprete said Aidan has been taking ukulele lessons from the renowned Roy Sakuma since age 4.
"It’s been an incredible opportunity for him," Laprete said. "We are so excited that they’ve expanded all their routes, especially to Japan since we have family there."
