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BON-UTA: A Song from Home - Film Screening

featuring Maui Taiko

There are no longer any performances available for this show.

McCoy Studio Theater

Due to popular demand, a second screening has been added at 6:30 pm.  Registrations are online only and open at 10:00 am Thursday, January 18. 


The MACC will be collecting donations for the Maui Food Bank during this event. We ask that our patrons bring needed items for those impacted by the wildfires. Donation bins will be located near the MACC's main entry gates.


Between the two screenings (@ approx 5:45pm) will be traditional Japanese drumming by Maui Taiko in the McCoy Courtyard. 

Yuji Nakae directs this documentary, about the people of Futaba, a town located in Japan’s Fukushima Prefecture, as they fight to save a generations-old tradition in the wake of 2011’s earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disaster. By 2015, with the community scattered and recovering, townspeople began to realize that their beloved “bon uta” would cease to exist unless they took action.

A glimmer of hope is seen when they hear the story of Fukushima Ondo, another type of “bon uta” which continues to be enthusiastically performed and preserved through the efforts of Japanese Americans whose ancestors had emigrated from Fukushima to Hawaiʻi over a hundred years ago.

Encouraged by the story, the people of Futaba traveled to our Lāhainā Jodo Mission here on Maui, to see for themselves how a centuries-old tradition has been passed down to the current generation. The film structures connections between Hawaiʻi and Fukushima, Japan, and the Japanese immigrants’ history through songs and music.

Running Time: 134 minutes / Japanese with English subtitles

Watch the trailer HERE

There will be no food & beverages available for these screenings. 

Presenting Sponsors: