After careful consideration, and input from various community members, the Hawai‘i Kyudo Foundation (HKF) and the City and County of Honolulu will be conducting further community discussion before advancing the effort to build O‘ahu’s first public kyudojo at Mau‘umae Nature Park in Kaimukī.
During that time the City and HKF will continue community discussions and explore additional compromises regarding the kyudojo effort, which proposes building a multi-use recreational facility on 0.57 acres of underutilized park land inhabited by invasive plant life at Mau‘umae. This includes participating in the Kaimukī Neighborhood Board’s Permitted Interaction Group approved by the board on Wednesday, April 15.
“We’ve listened carefully to community input, both for and against this project, and with consideration to their wishes the kyudojo effort will be taking its time to field further community discussion,” said Mayor Rick Blangiardi. “We continue to support the foundation’s proposal, which would create one of the safest public archery facilities while benefitting Kaimukī and all of the island. I commend Bob Dewitz and his team at the Hawai‘i Kyudo Foundation for their flexibility, patience, and dedication to engaging with the neighbors on this effort. The amount of outreach and information they provided for this project is commendable. Whether you supported or opposed this project those efforts should be absolutely be recognized.”
Efforts to reestablish a public kyudojo on O‘ahu, and specifically at Mau‘umae Nature Park, have been explored for several years, but the current proposal was first presented to the community in January 2025. The Kaimukī Neighborhood Board unanimously supported the project during their October 2025 board meeting, with initial support expressed by City Council Chair Tommy Waters. The project was more broadly announced to the public that same month, with prior outreach conducted to residents neighboring the park and comments formally received as part of the project’s Draft Environmental Assessment.
Neighborhood Board support of the Permitted Interaction Group will facilitate further public discussions, advancing the information and updates presented during ten prior community meetings, including one specifically held for this effort on February 22, 2026 in conjunction with State Representative Jackson Sayama’s office.
“Mahalo to the community and the Kaimukī Neighborhood Board for facilitating these conversations, and providing the space for further dialogue. These kind of interactions are one of the many benefits of our robust Neighborhood Board system, acting as a conduit between government and the people,” said DPR Director Laura H. Thielen. “Honolulu Parks & Rec is blessed to have many examples of private and philanthropic organizations pitching in to improve or create park facilities on our public lands. From Makiki to Wahiawā, we have seen the benefit of these kind of public-private partnerships, as the recreational needs of our communities grow and evolve. In all of these cases, as would be true with the kyudojo, the City, DPR, and the people own and operate the facilities. The current partnership clearly outlines this, so we hope to explore ways to further enshrine these assurances during this pause in activity.”
Though the facility would primarily serve as a training center (dojo) for the traditional Japanese martial art of archery (kyudo), it can be utilized for a variety of community needs as it contains plans for a meeting room, parking, bathrooms, and native landscaping surrounding the Japanese-styled buildings. Ultimately, HKF would build, donate, and help maintain the facility, the City would own and operate it under the Honolulu Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR), and it would belong to all the people of O‘ahu.
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