Hokule'a brought two Japanese nationals home on its voyage this month from Micronesia to Okinawa, one of Japan's southernmost islands, but for the canoe's Hawaiian crew members, the voyage also had a special meaning.

As the canoe tied up at Itoman Harbor in Okinawa, the crew members were feted by their hosts, with crew members Kanako Uchino — a coral researcher and Hokule'a veteran — and Takuji Araki, explaining what they were hearing. The canoe tied up at the harbor at 1 a.m. Monday, Hawai'i time, for what was expected to be a five-day stay. The next stop is Kumamoto, Japan.

Veteran sailor and Maui-based commercial fisherman Tim Gilliom said in a blog that he has found the Japan voyage to be an intense experience.

"This voyage has been unreal! It's gone into this cultural phase. I expected this to be a regular voyage, but now it seems like rejuvenation of one's culture," he said.

While Polynesians are not known to have voyaged to Japan traditionally, one of the points of this voyage is to commemorate the 1881 trip by King David Kalakaua to Japan.

"I think it's cool that we are going to be retracing some of the stops of Kalakaua. It's also neat to know that he traveled by sea, too. I'm looking forward to learning more about the Japanese people and their culture," Gilliom said.

Kaua'i crew member Maile Neff said she has been impressed by the sense of connection between the various peoples of the Pacific.

"To me, the most exciting thing about this voyage is that we are re-establishing connections with different cultures around the Pacific who are all 'ohana to us. We have a lot to learn and share with one another. From the brief time that I've spent in Micronesia and with other crew members from Japan, I realize how much that we have in common as Pacific island people," Neff wrote in the Polynesian Voyaging Society weblog.

For others, the voyage itself has been the message.

"It has given us time to ponder the deeper meaning of the canoe and of ourselves as Hawaiian people, and as native people of Okinawa and Japan. My thoughts go back to understanding my sense of place — therein lie the values that drive what I do for myself, my family and my community as I go forward," said canoe first mate Chadd Paishon, of Waimea.

Big Island crew member Pomai Bertelmann blogged a prayer: "Mahalo Ke Akua for this time — thank you for giving us the fast and the slow, the rough and the tough, the tired and the sleepy. These moments in time help us to define our individual characteristics even more fully so that the next time around we are more readily prepared."