As Mahina ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi (Hawaiian Language Month) draws attention to the growing vitality of ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi (Hawaiian language), a recently released mele Hawaiʻi (Hawaiian song) offers a compelling example of how the language is taking root far beyond the islands, this time through a rare partnership between a University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo PhD student and a young recording artist from Japan.
Award-winning Hawaiʻi musician and UH Hilo Hawaiian language graduate student Nicholas Kealiʻi Lum composed Waikīkī, a mele recorded as a duet with Tom Noʻeau, a Japan-born musician and trained ʻōlapa hula (hula dancer). Collaborations like this remain uncommon in Hawaiian music, even as hula has flourished in Japan for decades, with an estimated two million dancers nationwide.
Modern mele Hawaiʻi
Lum developed Waikīkī through the Daniel and Lydia Makuakāne Endowed Scholarship and Fellowship, which supports his ongoing creative research following his 2023 debut album Pewa. Praised by listeners for its modern vibe and R&B-influenced sound, Pewa reimagines traditional mele Hawaiʻi in a contemporary context while centering cultural resilience and linguistic vitality, values that continue to shape Lum’s work.
Lum said the song the pair recorded in a Kalihi studio was shaped with intention toward visitors, particularly from Japan, Hawaiʻi’s largest international tourism market. “What would be so cool is when tourists come here that they don’t just go surfing and go to a lūʻau, but they actually have an educational piece, as well,” he said.
- Related UH News: Mele Hawaiʻi Reimagined: UH Hilo Makuakāne scholar bridges past and present, October 28, 2025
Learning deeply
For Noʻeau, the collaboration marked a meaningful step in a journey shaped by years of hula training. He grew up dancing in Japan under the guidance of Kahikina Ah Sing and his brother Kalani, who grew up in Kona and opened Ke Ala O Ke Ao Cultural Arts Studio, their hālau in Japan, more than 20 years ago. Through the hālau, Noʻeau has been learning ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi, with a strong focus on accuracy and understanding.
“This song taught me a lot. I’m still learning Hawaiian language, and pronunciation is really hard, but it made me want to learn more,” Noʻeau said.
For Lum, that commitment to language was central to the collaboration. “If you pronounce everything wrong, there’s no meaning there anymore, especially in mele, where the poetry carries the story,” he said.
Ah Sing said watching his student step into Hawaiian music has gone far beyond what he once imagined. “I never thought that the younger generation in Japan would root themselves so deeply in our language and culture,” he said.
Noʻeau has also recorded with award-winning Hawaiian musicians Robert Uluwehi Cazimero and Kuana Torres Kahele, further grounding his work in Hawaiian musical tradition.
