Every week, archers practice the Japanese martial art of kyudo in the basement of the Soto Zen Buddhist Temple in Nuʻuanu.
It's not an ideal space, but they make do. The archers take about 15 minutes to set up their temporary archery range using the temple's dining tables as barriers to prevent stray arrows from going outside the doors. Several foam blocks are placed behind the targets, ensuring no damage to the facility’s walls.
“We don’t want to damage anything,” said Jonathan Tu, a 25-year-old archer who’s been practicing kyudo for about a year. “We always have to make sure our arrows either hit the target, hit the foam, or hit the ground.”
For decades, the 125-year-old Hawaiʻi Kyudo Kai club has been looking for a permanent home. The search may soon be over as the nonprofit Hawaiʻi Kyudo Foundation and the city announced last year that it would build a kyudojo at the Mauʻumae Nature Preserve, located on 16th Avenue and Claudine Street.
But the project has run into opposition from some Kaimukī residents who say the development would increase traffic, attract people experiencing homelessness, and raise safety concerns about stray arrows.
The dilemma illustrates growing tensions among people in largely residential neighborhoods who oppose development, as the archers try to keep the martial art alive after it went dormant during World War II.
To the archers, Mauʻumae Nature Preserve seemed like the perfect place. It sits on half an acre of undeveloped land, it's overgrown with invasive plants, and it lacks abutting neighbors.
The Hawaiʻi Kyudo Foundation has proposed an approximately 4,200-square-foot archery range in the brush section of the park that will feature a shooting house, a target house and a shooting range.
The foundation will construct and fund the $850,000 project, then gift the facility to the city when it's completed by September, according to Bob Dewitz, a member of the foundation. The annual upkeep for the facility will cost $20,000, according to the Honolulu Department of Parks and Recreation.
The facility will also be available for the public to use for community meetings and recreational classes such as yoga, tai chi and hula.
The project was first proposed for the nature preserve in 2003. But the plan didn't come into fruition due to unresolved safety concerns and lack of funding, according to a draft environmental assessment.
The city maintained a kyudo range at Kapiʻolani Park for decades before it was closed in 2012 due to tension with nearby tennis courts. Hawaii News Now reported someone fired an arrow, landing near the courts.
So, kyudo archers have been practicing at the Soto Zen Buddhist Temple for the past 20 years.
Kaimukī residents raise concerns
The proposal wasn’t received well by some residents who say the project lacks transparency and public input. Grace O'Neil, a Kaimukī resident of 10 years, said she's mainly worried about safety.
“I don't see how you can prevent stray arrows from hitting dogs and people,” she said.
Dewitz said there are no safety issues because of the facility's design, and archery sessions will be supervised by a trained professional.
“The targets are placed at ground level, and behind the target is a 5-foot-tall sand berm,” he said. “Around the sand berm is a 14-foot-high building. So the arrows actually can’t get anywhere close to going over the top because there’s a net there.”
Other residents say the city hasn’t done enough to upkeep the park. Instead of an archery range, some residents want the city to focus on other issues, such as fixing potholes in the parks created by feral chickens digging for food, getting rid of invasive grass in the forest area, creating speed bumps on 16th Avenue to prevent speeding cars, and building a playground.
Georgietta Chock has lived in Kaimukī since 2011 and walks her dog, Rusty, to the park every day. She opposes the Japanese archery range.
“We would like to see more activity for the kids, like a volleyball court, tennis court or basketball court, because so many kids are moving into the neighborhood,” she said.
Donna Shimabuku wants the park to be in its natural state and said the park used to have a maintained trail for families to hike. “I think this project is in the wrong place,” she said.
However, other residents support the archery facility. Michele Velasco has lived in Kaimukī for 30 years and lives right across the street from the proposed project.
“I thought it was a great idea,” Velasco said. “I think it would be a good addition to our community."
On Feb. 22 at 9 a.m., a town hall will be held at the Kaimukī Library for residents to ask questions about the project.
Keeping the martial art alive
Kyudo emerged from Japan around the 12th century and was practiced by samurai. Kyudo translates to “the way of the bow,” and is focused on the form of archery rather than hitting the target.
Thomas Itagaki, 93, has been a sensei for 50 years and hopes the archery range will be built in his lifetime. He said kyudo can be difficult to learn.
“It’s eight steps,” he said. “Each step individually is very simple, but when you put it together, it’s very difficult.”
The bows and arrows in kyudo differ from Western bows and arrows. In kyudo, the bows are 7 feet tall, and the arrows are crafted for individual archers.
Normally, in a kyudojo in Japan, archers would be about 90 meters away, nearly 300 feet, from the target. But the facility the Hawaiʻi Kyudo Kai club is temporarily using is about 80 meters, just over 260 feet.
Japanese archers also shoot lower than Western archers. The targets are placed at calf length.
Back at the makeshift practice space, Jonathan Tu said beginners need to earn their ranks before they’re able to shoot with a bow and arrow. It took Tu about five months before he was ready to shoot at the target.
Tu acknowledged the residents' concerns.
“Their concerns are valid as anything new or anything with change is nerve-racking,” he said. “But at least allow us to explain a little bit more so we can assuage your concerns.”
In the early 19th century, kyudo came to Hawaiʻi with Japanese immigrants. There was an abundance of Japanese archery clubs prior to World War II. During the war, the practice went dormant as sensei were placed in internment camps.
The revival of kyudo came shortly after WWII, but it’s been challenging to revive the clubs. Dewitz said there are only two clubs known to be available for people wanting to practice kyudo.
“By having a permanent home, we know we can bring back a lot of folks who had interest in the past," he said.
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