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Sports

Andre Ilagan grew up in Kalihi, the youngest son of a basketball family. His parents told him upfront that he wasn't going to grow up to be tall, and he'd also have to find a way to pay for college on his own. 

The Ilagan family bought cheap rackets at a Goodwill Store. Young Andre was hooked, and he'd spent countless hours honing his craft at Kalākaua District Park in Kalihi. 

Going all-in on tennis proved to be the right choice each step of the way for Ilagan, who grew to become 5-feet-8. He was a two-time state champion at Farrington High School, then signed with the University of Hawai‘i on a tennis scholarship after graduating high school in 2018. 

Ilagan cemented himself as one of the program's all-time greats in Mānoa, earning first team All-Big West honors in singles and doubles four times each. In his senior year in 2023, he became the first UH men's player to earn ITA All-American honors. 

Ilagan, who has pursued pro tennis after graduating, is set for the next big step in his journey. On Tuesday, he'll take on Tristan Boyer at the U.S. Open qualifying tournament at the 

USTA Billie Jean King National Center in Flushing, N.Y. First serve is set for 7:20 a.m. HST. Ilagan was one of nine players to earn a wild-card invite, becoming the first former 'Bow to earn an invite to the tournament. 

"It's definitely cool," Ilagan says of the opportunity. "I've reached a level and a point where I was watching these guys on TV and now I'm playing against them, and I can beat them now. ... Playing those guys and having the chance to be on court with them and have a chance to just beat them. When I go play the Open or even these challenger events that you get these former top 100 guys or top 10 guys that are legends of the sport, you just take it all in."

Not one to lack for confidence or honesty, Ilagan mentioned money when asked what he's excited about heading into U.S. Open qualifying. 

"To be honest, all I'm thinking about is like, man, that paycheck is definitely gonna help me," Ilagan said. "That's like the biggest thing right now. I hope to qualify because it would be exciting just to see like an $100K bank transfer into my account, and as a 25-year-old, and maybe never again in my life, I might not have this in one transfer. It was going to be unreal if I can qualify, that's like 30 grand minimum, and you can't ask for much more."

While Ilagan says nerves will not be a major issues as he takes the court on Tuesday, seeing the work he put in during his childhood come to fruition promises to be another memorable moment for him.

"Coming out of Kalihi in general is cool. I mean, I love it," Ilagan said. "It just builds character for me. I take pride it in every time."

Andre Ilagan 082426

<title>Kalihi's Andre Ilagan set to make history at U.S. Open</title>

The Farrington and UH alum is the first former Rainbow Warrior to be invited to the U.S. Open.

Kalihi's Andre Ilagan set to make history at U.S. Open

Ed Rampell

Arts & Entertainment

Columnists

At the August 22 ribbon-cutting ceremony in the 

, black belt Michelle Manu, a practitioner and teacher of lua, the ancient Hawaiian martial art, “open[ed] something that, to my knowledge, has never existed before: a permanent museum exhibit devoted to warrior women… A declaration that the warrior woman belongs in the historical record. And maybe more importantly: that she always did,” Manu said in her speech inaugurating the cultural institution’s Warrior Women exposition.

Adorned in a Hawaiian feather cape, Manu went on to tell assembled martial arts acolytes and aficionados: “I don’t believe today is simply the opening of an exhibit. Today we gather fragments of history and say: ‘We see you.’ Not because women suddenly became warriors. Not because the 21st century invented powerful women. Not because history has finally granted women permission to stand beside men. But because we are becoming capable of seeing what was there all along … The other half of warrior history.” 

The Warrior Women exhibition is mounted in an 8,000-square-foot space at Glendale, Los Angeles County. The Martial Arts History Museum claims to be the world’s only educational venue displaying and preserving the patrimony of global self-defense disciplines. It is a reliquary featuring related artifacts, ranging from samurai swords to a workout uniform worn by Elvis Presley, who studied karate in 1958 while a soldier based in Germany and became a 7th-degree black belt. Displays focus on the depiction of martial arts in anime, animation, movies and TV shows, including, naturally, a Bruce Lee section.

Following Manu’s inaugural address, her daughter, Malia, wearing a feather cape, cut the red ribbon held aloft by her sons, officially opening the Warrior Women exhibition. As Manu describes it, the display consists of “informational boards and an informative video” which “as curator, I helped put together the vision in the video, as well as all of the boards’ information.” Through photos and wall texts, female soldiers and defenders over the centuries are chronicled.

They include: Maui-born chiefess Manono, who died in the 1819 Battle of Kuamo‘o at Kona, and Mo‘o Alā, an all-women special forces regiment serving under O‘ahu’s Queen Kūkaniloko. Others showcased include France’s 15th-century patron saint Joan of Arc; the Philippines’ Gabriela Silang, who resisted Spanish colonizers in the 18th century; and the African warrior Viola Davis depicted in the 2022 film “The Woman King.” Manu says she hopes to “accumulate an armory within the exhibit” featuring traditional weapons.

The Museum’s various galleries highlight traditional martial arts from countries including Japan, China, Korea, Philippines, etc. Museum founder and president Michael Matsuda, a 10th degree black belt in monkey kung fu, called the Hawaiian exhibition “one of our most exciting sections in the entire museum. ʻŌlohe Solomon Kaihewalu, one of my dear, dear friends, donated all his weapons, made just for the museum… His expertise and uniform are here in the museum. Through one of his top students, kumu Michelle Manu, his legacy is carried on.”

Inside a glass display case, Kaihewalu’s woodwork includes: “Paddles; newa, a handheld club, some of them have nihomanō – tiger shark or great white teeth – within the actual club; pāhoa, a single edged dagger; and the maka pāhoa, a double-edged dagger,” relates Manu, the exhibit’s custodian. 

Manu explained to Aloha State Daily, “Lua is the only Indigenous warrior art for the people of Hawai‘i… It looks a lot like ceremonial hula from ancient times, just made into contact. Hula is not contact; lua looks very, very similar, utilizing the same movements, only it is contact.” 

Kaihewalu, Manu’s mentor, “hadn’t trained a woman since the early ’80s; 20 years had passed.” An athletic devotee, Manu surpassed expectations and may be today’s only publicly-known female Lua master. She earned a 10th degree black belt and the titles ‘Alihikaua (general) and “Knight Commander” of O’ahu’s chapter of the Royal Order of Kamehameha I, originally established in 1865 by 

perpetuate Hawai‘i’s ancestral culture, customs, and traditions.

Manu has authored books about lua and as a kumu, teaches the age-old Hawaiian martial art, viewing it as a pathway to female self-empowerment, in arenas from domestic abuse to the battlefield. But she teaches all genders, and one of her pupils, Kia‘i Ikaika Kūkaniloko – originally from Mākaha, now living in Orange County – attended the Warrior Women opening. He described Manu as a “phenomenal teacher” because “kumu embodies the essence of Lua, she lives it with every breath of her.” Some attendees traveled all the way from Chicago for the exhibit’s unveiling, such as Crystle Diño, who teaches Filipino martial arts at the Windy City. Janel Barlongo, who has taught traditional Filipino self-defense techniques Kali and Silat at UCLA and beyond, also attended.  

Manu, currently a Huntington Beach, California resident, traces her ancestry to her father’s homeland, the Big Island, where she’s returning September 3-6 to co-present the Koa Wāhine Retreat in Kailua-Kona at Kahalu‘u Ma Kai, which Manu calls “sacred land, where there’s a birthing stone and several temples.” Manu added the retreat is “a series of workshops; of course, Lua has to be involved, mostly geared towards women finding their inner warrior. We don’t just do lua or move in lua. We move in hula, we learn more about the warrior massage, and mostly we learn about the metaphysical aspect of how we can use our voice and mana, much as ancient women warrior did back in the day… I’m specifically focusing on our wāhine identity, in ancient times and modern times. How do we conduct ourselves? How do we move through the world? How do we deal with adversity? I’ll also be speaking about connection to the ʻāina. We’re actually going to be at an ancient heiau.”  

For more information on that retreat, click 

Ed Rampell and Luis Reyes co-authored the new book 

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Aloha State Daily Manuwithherbooksin Warrior Women Exhibit 16x9 Large

<title>Hawaiian martial arts master inaugurates “Warrior Women” exhibit at L.A. Museum</title>

Michelle Manu presides over new exhibition paying tribute to female protectors, defenders and combatants at world’s only museum honoring international self-defense disciplines, including ancient Hawai‘i’s lua. She resides in California but returns to the Islands next month to lead a women's retreat on Hawai‘i Island.

Hawaiian martial arts master inaugurates “Warrior Women” exhibit at L.A. Museum

Government & Politics

The Kauaʻi County Council Planning Committee considered a bill that would update the county’s island-wide building code to make new homes more defensible against wildfires during a meeting in Līhuʻe on Wednesday.

 would update building code to Wildfire and Wildland Urban Interface (WWUI) standards for new construction on Kauaʻi. Roofs would be made from noncombustible material to prevent ignition, vents would be covered with noncombustible mesh to prevent embers from entering, elevated homes would have noncombustible mesh underneath to prevent embers from getting underneath the home and windows would be made of dual pane tempered glass. The proposal also builds in a five-foot hardscape made of brick, gravel or concrete free of vegetation and debris around a home to prevent embers from igniting vegetation or items and providing prolonged flame contact. The WWUI standards would be enforced by the planning department rather than the building division.

Derek Alkonis, senior research program manager of fire safety at Underwriters Laboratories Research Institutes, and Elizabeth Pickett, co-executive director at Hawai‘I Wildfire Management Organization, said Wednesday that the Lahaina fire revealed a statewide problem on preparedness and prevention for wildfires in the built environment.

“We’d always thought about wildfire on the landscape, Pickett said. “We worked with landowners, we worked with farmers and ranchers, and we thought of it as a wildland fire situation, until Lahaina burned and really what the fuel was not the grass it was the town.”

Wildfires are an ongoing threat, and tropical storms in the Pacific bring strong winds during the driest months that could lead to wildfires, Alkonis said. According to the U.S. Forest Service, Hawaiʻi has a greater average wildfire likelihood than 84% of U.S. states. Kauaʻi Fire Department firefighters extinguished a 100-acre brush fire in Wainiha on Thursday afternoon.

Alkonis stated that in Lahaina, winds pushed the embers into the community and landed on houses built with combustible materials in a dense area.

 found that embers penetrated through roofs, vents and windows during the Lahaina fire, and recommended that counties adopt WWUI building codes to lessen fire impact in the built environment.

“This is an important moment to give the firefighters a fighting chance because they can’t do their job when the construction is not resistant to fire. It’s dangerous to the residents, it’s dangerous to the firefighters, but we can do something in policy,” Alkonis said.

Kauiʻi County Mayor Derek Kawakami said Wednesday that they have a responsibility to protect Kauaʻi’s residents and the place they call home.

“The way we build our homes matters. With that, we introduced Bill No. 2998, which would establish Kaua'i County's first Wildfire and Wildland Urban Interface standards including home-hardening, defensible space, and setback requirements to reduce our community's vulnerability to wildfire,” Kawakami said. “This is not about eliminating wildfire; it's about learning from Lahaina before we experience a disaster of our own, and I believe we have a responsibility do so.”

Kawakami said that this will increase building costs, but he said that it’s an investment worth making because it could help save lives in the case of a wildfire.

Kauaʻi Fire Department Chief Michael Gibson said that he believes wildfire resilience is an evolution of fire safety.

“We cannot prevent every wildfire and cannot control the wind, the drought,

 weather conditions that cause Fire to grow so rapidly. There are things we can do before the Fire ever starts,” he said.

The department has three type 5 wildland fire engines arriving by the end of the year and a third front-line four-wheel drive water tender arriving this month, which Gibson said are badly needed.

Lance Delos Reyes of Unlimited Construction conducted a cost study for the Wildfire and Wildland-Urban Interface standards for 10 three bedroom, two bathroom homes and found that the cost of a new home would increase by approximately 1.6% for slab on grade foundations and 1.7% for post on pier foundations, equating to an increase of approximately $6,700.

The Contractors Association of Kauaʻi wrote to the council and expressed a concerns that home costs differ greatly in design, size, materials, budget and location, and the cost of concrete for the hardscape and WWUI standards would increase the cost of the home. The association asked the council to return the bill to the planning commission and planning department for additional work, to consider property tax incentives for implementing WWUI standards and to educate residents on how they can reduce wildfire risk.

Councilmembers expressed concerns over the increase in costs for new homes.

Councilmember Fern Holland said that she thinks the work is important but wanted the committee to put more thought into options for homeowners.

Councilmember Felicia Cowden expressed concern that high housing costs could be contributing to outmigration in Hawaiʻi.

 shows that Hawaiʻi’s population decreased by 1.5 percentage points between 2020 and 2025.

Cowden said that the increase in home costs “could be catastrophic for the longevity of our existing population to be able to be here.”

Doug Green, owner of DoKi Solutions, told councilmembers that implementing WWUI standards would not lower the cost of home insurance, but ensure that insurance companies don’t leave the market in Hawai’i.

 from Hawaiʻi Appleseed Center for Law and Economic Justice, insurance nonrenewals, or when an insurance company will not renew a current policy when it expires, increased by 216 percentage points in Hawaiʻi between 2018 and 2023.

“Because homes are fuel, homes are part of the problem, and because homes are part of the problem, homes need to be part of the insurance solution,” Green said Wednesday.

WWUI standards could provide insurance companies with verified risk reduction to homes and neighborhoods already existing on Kauaʻi.

Pickett said that insurers are looking for whole neighborhoods and regions to meet these science-based, performance-based metrics.

The committee voted Wednesday to defer the bill to discuss at their next meeting in September.

AIA Hawaiʻi President Melani Islam told Aloha State Daily in an email that AIA Hawaiʻi engaged its membership and provided detailed comments on the bill.

“AIA Hawaiʻi supports the goal of Bill 2998 to make Kauaʻi communities more resilient to wildfire, and we appreciate the County’s willingness to engage the design and construction community as this important legislation has developed,” Islam said. “We’re encouraged to see several of the issues we raised reflected in the current bill, including greater attention to defensible space and landscape management, homeowner education, maintenance of wildfire-resistant conditions, and flexibility for certain multifamily and shared-wall development.

Kauaʻi County became the first Hawaiian county to implement WWUI standards when it passed 

 in 2025 for homes in Plantation Camp communities. The City and County of Honolulu, Maui County and Hawaiʻi County have not enacted WWUI standards in building codes. According to Pickett, the City and County of Honolulu created a county wide working group on fire wise standards and Maui is ramping up their firewise program and vegetation management.

Kauaʻi County homes

<title>Kauaʻi County takes step to harden homes against wildfires</title>

Kauaʻi County Council's Planning Committee this week took up Bill 2998, which, inspired by the loss of Lahaina, details ways to harden homes against wildfires. If adopted, the revised building codes would reduce the ways a fire can jump from fields to homes. At the same time, some attending the hearing worried the home modifications would make housing even more expensive.

Kauaʻi County takes step to harden homes against wildfires

Like the Hawai‘i prep football icons that came before him, Hunter Fujikawa is poised to become the next great quarterback to come out of Mililani High School. 

, Fujikawa, a junior with the Trojans, is hoping his name can be uttered in the same sentence by the time it's all said and done. 

 from schools such as Ohio State, Alabama and Oregon, Fujikawa, a 6-foot-2 four-star quarterback, is on pace to have been on the list of notable alumni regardless of the school that produced him. And prior to this summer, that school would have been Punahou. 

Fujikawa won the starting job on Punahou's varsity team as a freshman and in all likelihood would have held the role for all four years. 

"Just a great opportunity to play under coach 

 and (offensive coordinator) Samson Satele," Fujikawa told Aloha State Daily of his decision to transfer. "Being able to have that caliber of coaches to help me develop and get to the next level. God closes one door and opens another."

Fujikawa is far from the only former Punahou standout to join Mililani this offseason. Star 6-foot-4 receiver Zion White, who began his high school career with the Buffanblu, transferred to national powerhouse IMG Academy for his junior season. White returned to the Islands for his senior year and will suit up for the Trojans alongside Fujikawa. 

"It's been great so far," White said. "Over here, all the boys just have their heads down 24/7, just working super hard."

White and Fujikawa grew up playing against each other on the youth circuit — White for the ‘Ewa Beach Hammerheads and Fujikawa for Fiyah Squad. Fujikawa was a freshman when White was a sophomore racking up college offers before Fujikawa went on to do the same. 

"I knew he had potential," White said of Fujikawa. "We kind of just had to build that relationship. We spent multiple hours just throwing together and just spending time together. And the connection, honestly, hasn't gone anywhere. It feels like a brotherhood in a sense."

In addition to Fujikawa and White, the Trojans will also feature a trio of Satele brothers in linebacker Toa, and defensive linemen Trison and Tayden. Toa and Trison have already committed to Oregon, while Tayden is entering his freshman year. Their father and offensive coordinator, Samson Satele, is a former University of Hawai‘i standout offensive lineman and eight-year NFL veteran. 

"It's been great so far," Fujikawa said of the transition to Mililani. "I love the boys. This team, we should have a great year ahead of us."

White, who is entering his senior year, has already committed to California, choosing the Golden Bears over a 

. Fujikawa, meanwhile, says he's putting his recruitment "on pause" in order to focus on his junior season. 

"Recruiting is going to keep going, but I just want to continue to build relationships with coaches and focus on the season, and then see what happens after," Fujikawa said. 

Mililani's season officially begins on Aug. 14 with a home game against Liberty High School of Henderson, Nev. As a program, the Trojans have two state titles to their name: one in 2014 as the HHSAA Division I champions, their lone top-tiered state crown. Mililani won the 2016 Division I HHSAA state title, but it was the same year the state introduced a new top tier in the Open Division. 

"What everybody wants to do and everyone's vision is winning the state championship," Fujikawa said. 

Added White, when asked about his individual goals for the 2026 season: "I have personal goals, but honestly, I'm a team-first kind of guy and I just want to win states above all." 

Mililani football 080328

<title>Mililani's new dynamic duo looks to take Trojans back to HHSAA mountaintop</title>

Former Punahou teammates Zion White and Hunter Fujikawa are reunited at Mililani and have the Trojans thinking big ahead of the 2026 high school football season.

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