Spa Resort Hawaiians Celebrates 60 Years

Spa Resort Hawaiians in Fukushima Prefecture marked its 60th anniversary on January 15. The theme park celebrated the occasion with a "finale ceremony" and also premiered its new evening show, "Haku Lei – Bonds of Aloha," featuring its dancing team, known as the "Hula Girls." Despite being a weekday, the venue was packed with spectators.

Born from Industrial Decline

Spa Resort Hawaiians first opened in 1966 as the Joban Hawaiian Center, a resort and theme park created to make use of abundant hot spring resources following the decline of the Joban coal mines. It was renamed Spa Resort Hawaiians in 1990.

Polynesian dance performances by the Hula Girls have been a tradition since the resort's opening, and the film "Hula Girls" (released in 2006), which is based on the team, drew widespread attention across Japan.

Although the resort experienced temporary closures after the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and during the COVID-19 pandemic, renovations carried out since 2025 have helped restore its energy and vibrancy.

The Next Milestone

All 48 members of the Hula Girls and the fire knife dancing team Siva Ola took part in the opening performance of the new show "Haku Lei – Bonds of Aloha." The word haku refers to a braiding technique used to make a lei, a decorative garland worn around the neck or shoulders.

The show is made up of 19 segments, including scenes depicting periods in Hawaiian history when hula dancing was once prohibited.

After the performance, team captain Lehiwa Yuki said, "Our top priority is thinking about how we can make everyone smile. We want to keep improving ourselves so that we can continue performing all the way to our 100th anniversary."

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(Read the article in Japanese.)

Author: Takumi Kamoshida, The Sankei Shimbun