There is something about the words “hula dance” that makes me long for home.

Even though the words originated in faraway southern islands, they somehow evoke a feeling of nostalgia for my hometown.

I understand that people in Hawaii say just “hula,” which means “dance” in their language.

Last month, I visited Fujiwara Elementary School in Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture, where the Spa Resort Hawaiians theme park is located.

I had heard that the Hula Girls, or members of the hula dancing team who perform at Spa Resort Hawaiians, have started visiting the prefecture’s elementary schools to give lessons.

The lessons are part of the spa resort’s activities to teach schoolchildren about the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011.

Mayu Watanabe, one of the Hula Girls, wore a pale pink hibiscus in her hair. She asked the youngsters, “Have you been to (Spa Resort) Hawaiians?” The children replied cheerfully in unison, “Yes.”

It appears that many of the pupils have had some experience with the hula already as they are residents of the home to the spa resort facility.

Back in the 1960s when the city became impoverished from the closure of local coal mines, the women of Iwaki turned to hula in the hope of saving their community. This is why Iwaki is known as the “hometown of the Hula Girls.”

The 2011 quake destroyed the facilities of Spa Resort Hawaiians, and the Hula Girls organized a nationwide caravan in search of performance sites.

Their determination inspired countless survivors, including Watanabe, who was an elementary school fifth-grader in Iwaki at the time.

“I was encouraged and energized, and I wanted to do my best,” she recalled.

All the Hula Girls of that time are retired now. But Watanabe and her colleagues are resolved to keep alive their forebears’ will to dance anytime, anywhere.

There is a hula number titled “Aina Fukushima,” the “aina” being Hawaiian for “hometown.”

--The Asahi Shimbun, May 2

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Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.