It's no surprise, considering how many of its people are of Japanese ancestry and cultural and emotional ties between the people of Hawaii and Japan remain strong, that Hawaii will play host to a major fund-raising event for the victims of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan this Sunday, April 10, 2011 from noon to 5 p.m. Hawaii time (6:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. eastern - which is also Monday, April 11th 7:00 a.m. to 12 noon Japan time).
"Kokua For Japan," a Hawaii-based radio, television and Internet fund raising event will be staged by Clear Channel Radio Hawaii and Oceanic Time Warner Cable, and take place at the Great Lawn at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Beach Resort & Spa. All proceeds to benefit the American Red Cross for the Japan earthquake and Pacific tsunami relief efforts. Kokua is a Hawaiian word meaning "help."
Although tickets to attend the event in person are now sold out, there are numerous other ways to support the effort.
Local residents can watch and listen to the event on TV stations including: KFVE; KGMB; KHNL; KITV 4; and OC 16 plus radio stations: AM940; Island 985; KCCN-FM100; KHVH AM; KIKI AM; Hawaiian 105 KINE; KSSK 92.3 FM; and KSSK AM 590. The event also will air live on several Japanese radio stations including: 76.1 InterFM (Tokyo); Love FM (Fukuoka); FM COCOLO(Osaka), ZIP-FM (Nagoya) and NORTH WAVE(Sapporo).
Those who are not in Hawaii can watch the live stream of the event at: www.oc16.tv; www.kokuaforjapan.com; www.ksskradio.com; www.island985.com; www.khvhradio.com; www.kikiradio.com; www.kitv.com and www.pacificnetwork.tv.
Scheduled performers include: Jack Johnson; Willie Nelson; Henry Kapono with special guests Michael McDonald and Mick Fleetwood; Patrick Simmons; Hutch Hutchinson; Jake Shimabukuro; The Brothers Cazimero; Loretta Ables Sayre; Cecilio & Kapono; Kalapana; Cecilio & Kompany; Amy Hanaialii; Na Leo; John Cruz; Hapa; Natural Vibrations; ManoaDNA; Robi Kahakalau; Society of Seven; Eric Gilliom; Mailani; Taimane; Go Jimmy Go; Jerry Santos; Gregg Hammer Band; Charles Ka'upu and Kenny Endo Taiko. On-air personalities from Clear Channel Radio and local broadcast and cable TV stations will serve as hosts.
In-kind donations being provided by: Bank of Hawaii; Coca-Cola; Hawaiian Telcom; Hilton Hawaiian Village Beach Resort & Spa; Hawaiian Airlines; Honolulu Box Office; Honolulu Star-Advertiser; ING DIRECT Hawaii; NEP Supershooters; RHEMA Services; Sayre Public Relations; Small Kine Polynesian; Xerox Hawaii; and Zippy's. Additional in-kind support for the Japanese broadcasts has been provided by Hawaiian Airlines, Hawaii Tourism Japan, Smoothweb Inc., and PacRim Marketing.
In addition, all entertainers, on-air personalities, crew, production support, and event producers are donating their time and resources for the program.
For information, visit www.kokuaforjapan.com.