ANA／Airlines' Initiatives for the SDGs｜"ANA ʻAha Mele"

February 3, 2023

ANA ʻAha Mele" was held on November 18-19, 2022.
ʻAha Mele" means "music concert" in the Hawaiian language and represents ANA's desire to preserve Hawaiian culture and environment through music.
ANA HONOLULU MUSIC WEEK, originally held for the first time in 2019, has been renewed and developed into an event that aims to increase the number of people interacting between Japan and Hawaii, as well as to pass on culture, educate children, DEI, and protect the environment, in the wake of the return of the Airbus A380 "FLYING HONU" to service in 2022. The event was also developed into an event with the objectives of cultural transmission, education for children, DEI, and environmental conservation. We would like to introduce some of the scenes from the event.

Music Class with Pianist Mr. Nobuyuki Tsuji󠄀i

We welcomed pianist Mr. Nobuyuki Tsujii(*1) to Hawaii and invited elementary school students in Hawaii for free. The children listened to Mr. Tsujii's performance up close on stage, and then Mr. Tsujii replayed the piano notes played by the children, and improvised melodies on the piano to the notes the children were playing. The event embodied the joy of connecting through music, regardless of nationality, race, language, disability, or age.

* 1

In June 2009, he became the first Japanese pianist to win the 13th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. Since then, she has been active as one of the world's leading pianists, and has performed at Carnegie Hall in New York and the Proms, the largest music festival in the U.K., with great success. He has received high acclaim and the support of many audiences. He has also received numerous requests to appear as a soloist with leading orchestras in Europe and the United States, and is highly acclaimed by world-class conductors such as Gergiev and Ashkenazy.

Environmental conservation activities (tree planting by ANA Group employees)

In 2019, we succeeded the tree-planting activity started in "ANA HONOLULU MUSIC WEEK" with the cooperation of Hawaiian Legacy Reforestation Institution(*2), and also in "ANA ʻAha Mele" this year, ANA Group employees planted 260 milo trees.Miro trees are a type of Hawaiian wood that is sometimes used for the body of ukuleles, symbolizing the concept of "ANA ʻAha Mele" to value music and culture. In addition, since one milo tree can supply oxygen for a family of four staying at the site for one week, and we decided to plant 260 trees to commemorate the event, which was calculated by multiplying the duration of the event (two days) by the capacity of the Airbus A380 "FLYING HONU" (520 passengers/plane) and dividing by 4.
By conducting tree-planting events like this one every year, we hope to make this a sustainable event that will help Hawaii’s nature.

* 2
This non-profit organization was established in Hawaii in 2014 and is dedicated to the revitalization of native Hawaiian trees, including milo trees and koa trees.
Many companies in and outside of Hawaii support its activities in support of its purpose.
Interview with Mr. Kojima, the person in charge of this event

What were your thoughts in organizing this event?

We have been working not only to make an economic contribution to Hawaii, but also to create a sustainable exchange based on the themes of "passing on Hawaiian culture" and "environmental conservation" through the event, and to grow sustainably with the local community for the future.
Overtourism has been a problem in Hawaii since before the pandemic. We believe that the future will be a test of how much we can promote orderly tourism as well as attract visitors.
Therefore, we strongly believe in promoting the spirit of Malama Hawaii(*3) and increasing the number of activities that can give back to the local community. Through our HONU = Guardian God of the Sea, we would like to not only bring many Japanese customers to Hawaii, but also carry the spirit of Malama Hawaii from Japan.

The music school program was implemented to embody one of the goals of ANA ʻAha Mele, which is to educate children and DEI. We invited Mr. Tsujii, who has been a regular supporter of ANA, to the event to deepen exchanges through piano regardless of nationality, race, language, disabilities, etc., and to embody the joy of connecting through music.
Tree-planting activities for the purpose of environmental conservation are orthodox activities, but we have been continuing them since 2019. In addition, we will continue our environmental conservation efforts such as beach cleanups by local branches and introduction of electric buses between Waikiki and Ala Moana for ANA Mileage Club members since before the pandemic.
- * 3
  
  Caring for Hawaii
Please give us a message.

While we will continue to expand the number of people interacting with each other through events, plant trees, and care for the environment through beach cleanups and the introduction of electric buses, we believe that our major mission is to realize regenerative tourism when the number of travelers recovers to a level higher than before the pandemic. Something is better when you leave Hawaii than before you came. In Japan, there is a saying, "A bird does not foul the nest that it is about to leave". Every time one of our flights lands in Hawaii, something is cleaned up and revitalized. We will continue our efforts to practice this kind of tourism, and we hope that all ANA passengers will join us in this endeavor.

The ANA Group will continue to contribute to local communities and environmental conservation through various initiatives.