Saipan Mayor Ramon Blas “RB” Camacho, fourth left, with Tokyo Koenji Awaodori Director Kiyotaka Shimada, fourth right, Saipan Awaodori co-founder Misako Kamata, third left, Paseo De Marianas Promoters Inc. Director Hideaki Sawada, second right, and members of the Saipan Awaodori Team on Friday.
Photo by Emmanuel T. Erediano
“PLEASE continue the Awaodori. I will be behind you,” thus said Saipan Mayor Ramon Blas “RB” Camacho to Saipan Awaodori co-founder Misako Kamata and Tokyo Koenji Awaodori Director Kiyotaka Shimada on Friday.
Kamata, Paseo De Marianas Promoters Inc. Director Hideaki Sawada and members of the Saipan Awaodori Team paid the mayor a visit to introduce Shimada, who arrived last week.
Shimada is here to express the Koenji Awaodori Association’s support for the Saipan Awaodori Team, which has represented the island in Japan’s Awaodori festivities for many years.
Kamata, who is also the president of Kinpachi Restaurant, informed the mayor that Yukihiro Iwanami, the founder of the Saipan Awaodori Team and the head of Tokyo Tensui-ren in Koenji in Tokyo, Japan passed away on Dec. 23, 2023.
“This unfortunate situation made us worry,” she said. “What will happen to the Saipan Awaodori Team? Where are we heading? We have to find a solution. We need to establish our direction, and we need support.”
Kamata said the Koenji Association will support the Saipan Awaodori Team through the assistance of Tokyo Tensui-ren and Shimada.
Kamata said Saipan Awaodori Team members are the island’s young ambassadors who help build a strong relationship between Japan and the CNMI through Japanese culture, dance and music.
She said since the Saipan Awaodori Team was formed in 2007, Tokyo Tensui-ren, their parent group, and Shimada have regularly visited Saipan to teach the Awaodori dance and music to the local children.
Mayor Camacho said he really appreciates the Awaodori presentations, which, he added, reflect the continuous relationship between the CNMI and Japan.
In his public speeches, he said he always mentions that Japan has permanent landmarks on Saipan that remind everyone of the long history between the Asian country and the Northern Marianas.
“Before the war, they were here and they established a lot. They were the ones who educated the local people about farming, and that’s why we have Sugar King here,” the mayor said.
“And the other thing that I really appreciate is the Saipan Awaodori Team continues to recruit our young generation [and] makes them productive,” Camacho said.
He told Kamata and Shimada that Sugar King Park is “open for you to use — bring the kids to practice. I want to promote Sugar King where we can invite people to visit.”
Camacho said the Saipan Awaodori Team is guiding the children on the right path, “so please continue the Awaodori. We lack programs here for kids. I will be behind you. We have more kids to bring in to this program.”
Shimada said Awaodori teaches children the importance of respecting their elders. “That is something we would like to transfer to the younger generation. As long as these kids are under Saipan Awaodori, then they will learn,” he said.
Shimada said the Saipan Awadori Team members who were just little kids when he visited the island for the first time in 2007 have already grown up.
“I am really happy to see them grow as young people of the CNMI. Whenever they smile while performing, the audience smiles as well,” Shimada said.
