Ho’okipa meets Omotenashi. Gets married!
Q. What do you get when Hawaiian hospitality culture meets Japanese hospitality culture?
A. A rare and potent combination of two powerful ideas!
The Kahala Hotel and Resort from Hawaii, has recently established a new sister property in Yokohama, Japan. Wow! it looks great! I'd really like to experience that.
Aloha Spirit
What is particularly interesting is the meeting of hospitality minds, hearts and philosophies that this initiative represents.
Hawaiian hospitality culture is based on "Aloha", the underlying culture embedded in the basic greeting. Japanese is embodied by the word Omotenashi, which is such an important part of Japanese culture but isn't actually a greeting word.
While Hawaiian hospitality culture is based on the loving and peaceful Aloya Spirit, the actual word Hawaiians use to refer to it is "Ho’okipa". And here I must find another definition from the experts...
- Ho‘okipa is the Hawaiian value of hospitality.
- Ho‘okipa is to welcome guests, customers and strangers with your spirit of Aloha, transcending the norm in serving others.
- Ho‘okipa is the hospitality of complete giving. It defines a true art of unselfishly extending to others the best that we have to give.
Does this ring a bell?
Substitute Omotenashi for Ho’okipa and you have pretty much the same idea. Especially in the last line there. It's no wonder that Japanese make up the largest group of tourists to Hawaii.
And one thing you can be sure of... the Japanese staff in this Hawaiian hotel resort, found in the heart of Japan, will have little difficulty in understanding the Hawaiian philosophy of Ho’okipa and delivering it with the Spirit of Aloha.
Final Thought
A trip to Hawaii in definitely on my bucket list! During my time living in the Far East I have known several people who live there and they definitely radiate this peaceful, relaxed worldview.