Hawaiian

There are places one can go to in Japan where it will seem you’ve stepped through Doraemon’s Dokodemo Door and landed straight up in America’s 50th state, Hawaii. From hula dancing to learning to play the ukulele, Japan has been all-in on all things Hawaiian since the heady “Bubble Era” days, when a salaryman’s winter bonus could fly the whole family to a Waikiki resort. But Japanese ties to America’s Island Paradise run deeper than that, even deeper than what most Americans would think of when Japan, Hawaii, and history are mentioned in the same sentence, an unfortunate chapter in both country’s histories. But before all that, when Hawaii was an independent nation, King Kalakaua met with the Meiji Emperor to propose a marriage between Princess Victoria Kaiulani and Prince Higashifushimi Yorihito. Although this was later denied, it did allow immigration and trade between the nations to start, and the two have been intertwined ever since. What’s up with the food, though? That little history lesson out of the way, food what most Japanese associate with the Aloha State; even McDonald’s sold a Loco Moco Burger among its limited-time offers here. But let’s skip the Hawaiian “inspired/fusion/-esque” scene and get…