Theater students from the University of Hawaii at Manoa (UHM) are traveling to Japan in June to stage a rare English-language kabuki production at a classic playhouse in Gifu Prefecture, as a homecoming for a kabuki tradition taken to the Pacific islands by Japanese immigrants in the 19th century.

The show, part of the UHM’s kabuki project to produce “The Maiden Benten and the Bandits of the White Waves,” better known as “Benten Kozo,” comes after performances at the on-campus Kennedy Theater in Honolulu in April to mark the centennial anniversary of the first English-language kabuki performance ever given in Hawaii in 1924. “Benten Kozo” is a popular kabuki play depicting the twists and turns of five thieves following their own code of honor.

The project is led by UHM professor Julie Iezzi, a 61-year-old Asian theater specialist, in collaboration with Ichikawa Monnosuke VIII, 64, the eighth generation of a kabuki family lineage stretching back to 1713, during Japan’s Edo Period (1603-1868).

HONOLULU — It could take something close to perfection for the Hawaii baseball team to rally its way back into the Big West Conference title race over the next few weeks.

For at least one night, Alex Giroux was game.

Giroux tossed five flawless innings of relief – at one point striking out six batters in a row – and Jordan Donahue gave the Rainbow Warriors just enough to work with offensively in a 3-2 series-opening win over Cal State Northridge at Les Murakami Stadium on Friday night.

UH (27-15, 10-9 Big West) surged back above .500 in conference play with its season-best sixth straight victory and ended the nine-game winning streak of CSUN (28-15, 14-5), which got knocked out of a first-place tie.

The ‘Bows dugout was abuzz after Giroux set down all 15 batters he saw.

“That was unreal. That was one of the best performances I’ve ever seen,” said Donahue, who delivered two hits in two-out situations to drive in all three UH runs. “That was huge. We needed that big time.”

Said coach Rich Hill, “Oh my gosh, yeah, there’s not the proper adjectives to describe what he did tonight. What was it, six strikeouts in a row, eight strikeouts total? Didn’t give up a baserunner. That’s a first-place team that can really hit. Man, stunning performance.”

Giroux (5-2), the right-handed junior from Lake Oswego, Ore., came out for the start of the fifth after freshman Sebastian Gonzalez made his second start and gave up six hits and two runs (one earned) over four innings. UH had a one-run lead thanks to Donahue’s single to left-center to score Naighel Ali‘i Calderon in the fourth.

“Everything felt good. Ball was coming out of my hand really well, it was going where I wanted it to,” Giroux said. “I really had confidence in all my pitches today.”

In particular command was his cutter, which he throws in the low 80s.

“It was probably the best it’s been all season, throwing it as hard as I could and it was finding places where they weren’t touching it,” he said. “I was able to throw my sinker off that, get the outside corner, got a couple guys looking. Kind of had everything going. It was a good night.”

From the last out of the fifth to the first two outs of the seventh, Giroux set down Matador batters at the plate.

He had two comparable outings last year, his first season at UH as a transfer from Washington: five innings of hitless relief with one walk, a hit batsman and one strikeout at Tony Gwynn Stadium in San Diego; and four innings of relief against UC Santa Barbara with nine strikeouts and no walks at the Les.

The latter was the closest night he could remember to Friday.

It was the second time in 2024 that UH pitchers struck out at least 12 batters without issuing a walk.

With three teams – CSUN, UC Irvine and UC Santa Barbara – with five losses or fewer in Big West play, UH still has plenty of work to do to either get close to the leaders or put itself in position for consideration for an NCAA at-large bid.

“If we make a run, maybe we get into range. Maybe we win it,” Hill said. “All I care about is tomorrow night.”

Game 2 of the series is 6:35 p.m. at Les Murakami Stadium. Members of the 2024 class of the UH Sports Circle of Honor will be introduced on the field before the first pitch.

Naighel Ali‘i Calderon sprinted to first base on a bunt attempt in the bottom of the eighth. (Spectrum News/Brian McInnis)

Brian McInnis covers the state’s sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.

HONOLULU (AP) — Hawaii lawmakers on Friday wrapped up a legislative session heavily focused on addressing Maui’s needs after last year’s deadly Lahaina wildfire. They also took on Hawaii’s housing shortage, tax cuts and measures to support distinctive Hawaii agricultural products like coffee and macadamia nuts. In a more lighthearted move, they adopted the “shaka” as the official state gesture.

Here is a look at some of the major legislation passed during the 60-day session that began on Jan. 17:

Money for Maui and wildfire prevention

Lawmakers appropriated $1 billion to cover various costs stemming from the Lahaina disaster, including $500 million for emergency housing for displaced residents and $124 million in rental assistance for those ineligible for aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

A recognition of how global warming has raised wildfire risks statewide prompted legislators to allocate funds for more firefighting equipment, a state fire marshal and forest restoration.

Housing and vacation rentals

Lawmakers tackled Hawaii’s acute housing shortage with bills to reform zoning and boost vacation rental regulations.

The zoning measure requires the counties to allow two additional dwellings on each residentially zoned lot with the aim of promoting higher density development.

House Speaker Scott Saiki, a Democrat, told reporters on Wednesday this differed from recent past attempts to address the state’s housing shortage. Those primarily involved subsidies for affordable housing construction.

“We’re seeing in other states, and even in other countries, that governments are looking at zoning as one of the barriers to housing development,” Saiki said. “And it was time for Hawaii to take a look at that as well.”

The Aug. 8 wildfire put a spotlight on vacation rentals by exposing the large share of Maui dwellings being rented to tourists on a short-term basis. This pushed lawmakers to pass a bill giving counties the authority to phase out vacation rentals and make them available for residents. Gov. Josh Green signed the measure into law on Friday.

Maui’s mayor acted on this bill immediately by announcing county legislation that would phase out vacation rentals operating in areas zoned for apartments. The bill would affect 2,200 West Maui units in and around Lahaina and nearly 5,000 more elsewhere in the county.

Boost for farmers

Lawmakers passed measures creating standards for coffee and macadamia nuts, two of Hawaii’s most high-value crops.

The coffee bill requires Hawaii-grown and processed coffee to contain no less than 51% Hawaii-origin coffee beginning in July 2027. The legislation said existing law allows coffee blends identified as being from the Kona, Kau and Kauai coffee growing regions to contain only small amounts of beans from these places. This deceives consumers and harms coffee growers, it said.

On macadamia nuts, lawmakers passed legislation that would force macadamia-nut processors of iconic brands like Mauna Loa to disclose whether their products contain kernels grown outside Hawaii. Currently, some well-known Hawaii macadamia nut processers sell imported nuts in island-themed packaging without indicating where the nuts are from.

Tax cut

Lawmakers approved tax cuts amounting to $5 billion over the next six years, said Rep. Kyle Yamashita, the chairperson of the House Finance Committee and a Democrat. The cuts are in the form of a higher earned income tax credit, increases to the standard tax deduction and adjustments to income tax brackets.

Lawmakers also removed the general excise tax on medical bills for patients with Medicaid, Medicare and Tricare health insurance.

Yamashita said the changes are only the first step in needed tax reform and he aims to work on the issue further.

“Because at the end of the day, our biggest problem in our state is high cost of living. Our tax structure is at the root of that,” he told reporters.

Rep. Lauren Matsumoto, the House minority leader, said her Republican caucus has long pushed for the tax measures.

“Our best bills that we passed this year is when we did them bipartisanly, when we worked collaboratively and had input from everybody,” she said.

State gesture

Lawmakers moved to make the “shaka” the state gesture and recognize Hawaii as its birthplace. The hand symbol is sometimes known outside the islands as the “hang loose” sign associated with surf culture. People in Hawaii display the shaka to say hi and bye as well as thanks and aloha.