Reiki Tokushige Rogers to Host Saturday Festival Program

June 27, 2019 • Addison Ching • Festivals and Conventions

Reiko Tokushige Rogers, radio personality and event emcee at Studio Rim Hawaii, has been chosen to emcee the Saturday evening ho‘olaule‘a program at this year's Waikiki Steel Guitar Week. The event will be held July 15-20, 2019, at the Royal Hawaiian Center's Royal Grove stage.

Saturday's main festival program will feature two popular Japanese steel guitarists, Kiyoshi "Lion" Kobayashi and Tetsuya Ishiyama. Rogers will also appeal to an expected audience of Japanese steel guitarists watching the live-streamed event and celebrating what might be one of Kobayashi's last performances in Hawai‘i.

Rogers is the president of Studio Rim Hawaii, a media production company located in Waikīkī that carries out various media production services for International markets. Born in Japan, she has been working in the media and music world for a long time since her university days in Japan. She moved to Hawai‘'i and established Studio Rim Hawaii Inc.

Known by her fans as "Pele Reiko," she hosts broadcasts each week, delivering Hawaii updates and promoting Hawaiian music to Japan. She is also a Japanese docent at Iolani Palace, researching Japanese immigrant history in Hawaii.

Rogers joins Hau‘oli Akaka and Kathy Collins who will share emcee responsibilities for the week-long event.

Jonah "Hau'oli" Akaka is currently a Hawaiian Culture Specialist for the Kamehameha Schools Ho'okahua Cultural Vibrancy Division. As program manager at Kamehameha Schools, he managed and coordinated Hawaiian cultural enrichment education programs for Hawaiian children. He has also worked for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and spent time as an educator at Kailua High School where he taught Hawaiian language, Hawaiian history, mele and hula.

Prior to being an educator, Akaka was broadcast announcer of Hawaiian music and "Ka Leo Hawai‘i" Hawaiian language talk show co-host and radio personality on Hawaii radio station KCCN AM 1420.

Maui actress/comedienne/storyteller/radio personality Kathy Collins has been performing on stage since the age of 13. She began her broadcasting career at 17; years later, with her late husband Barry Shannon, she co-founded Mana'o Radio 91.5 FM, a non-commercial, non-profit radio station staffed entirely by volunteers.

Collins has hosted the Maui Steel Guitar Festival since 2014.

Additional information about the event, as well as the complete event schedule, is available at the event website.