, located in the city of Iwaki,

Fukushima Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. Fukushima Prefecture has a population of 1,771,100 () and has a geographic area of . Fukushima Prefecture borders Miyagi Prefecture and Yamagata Prefecture ...

, is a

resort A resort (North American English) is a self-contained commercial establishment that aims to provide most of a vacationer's needs. This includes food, drink, swimming, accommodation, sports, entertainment and shopping, on the premises. A hotel ...

and

theme park An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, and events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central theme, often fea ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. It opened on January 15, 1966 as the Joban Hawaiian Center, becoming the first in the country.

History

The resort was an outgrowth of the mining industry. The modern coal mining in the Joban coal field was started on the exposed areas of the coal field near the foot of the Abukuma mountains in 1883. By 1944 the Joban Mine had become Japan's largest mine due, in no small part, to the use of forced labour by Allied Prisoners of War. The Joban Tanko continued to flourish throughout the 1950s but as Japan's economy shifted from being powered by

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal i ...

oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) and lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturate ...

in the 1960s, the owners realized that the mine's useful life was limited. Yutaka Nakamura, the vice president, was determined to extend the mine's life somehow, and hit upon the idea of using the area's hot springs, an inconvenience to the mines, to open a resort. He selected a

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

an theme. One of the Resort's most well-known features is its dance troupe. Rather than inviting an outside troupe to perform, the company decided to create its own, and initially trained 18 employees' daughters. In the very close-knit mining community, entire families would work at the Resort. Nakamura intentionally kept the hotel small at the beginning, so the local ''

ryokan A is a type of traditional Japanese inn that typically features ''tatami''-matted rooms, communal baths, and other public areas where visitors may wear nemaki and talk with the owner. Ryokan have existed since the eighth century A.D. du ...

'' would benefit from the increased business, and purchased as much as possible from local suppliers. Its popularity reached its peak in 1970–71, as attendance passed 1.55 million visitors per year. In 1989, Joban Hawaiian Center received the Deming Application Prize, becoming the first leisure-industry company to win this

quality control Quality control (QC) is a process by which entities review the quality of all factors involved in production. ISO 9000 defines quality control as "a part of quality management focused on fulfilling quality requirements". This approach plac ...

award. In 1990, it changed its name to Spa Resort Hawaiians, reflecting an increased focus on the spa facilities. In 2004, it was the tenth most popular theme park in Japan, with 1.5 million visitors. The resort was damaged by the

2011 Tōhoku earthquake Eleven or 11 may refer to: *11 (number) * One of the years 11 BC, AD 11, 1911, 2011 Literature * ''Eleven'' (novel), a 2006 novel by British author David Llewellyn *''Eleven'', a 1970 collection of short stories by Patricia Highsmith *''Eleven'' ...

and forced to close. While it was closed, its hula girls troupe toured Japan performing at earthquake refugee shelters and other venues. The resort reopened on 8 February 2012 with increased structural support and bigger stage for its hula girls show. Iwaki lost 277 people from the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. Being farther from the sea, Spa Resort Hawaiians was not damaged by the initial quake and tsunami of March 11 but suffered damage from the aftershock a month later. More damaging still for the Joban Hawaiian Centre were the reactor explosions at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, which made many people reluctant to visit the resort due to the fear of radiation. This triggered the memory of the owner of the Joban Hawaiian Centre, Mr. Saitou who accompanied the first Hula Girls all over Japan to promote the centre. He says this reputation is worse than closing the mine. Mr. Satou has decided to revive tour of Hula Girls after 45 years to cheer people still living in shelters and to aid Fukushima's recovery. Ex-Iwaki Hula Girls are also part of the project. They have decided to hold Japan Hula "high school" Girls Competition in Koushien, Osaka. After the quake, this project seemed to have fallen through but 13 high schools competed and moreover, they ran a campaign to raise funds for the event. Earthquake repairs and renovations were finally completed in early 2012 and Spa Resort Hawaiians reopened completely on February 8, 2012.

Parent company

Joban Kosan is a Japanese company, which manages Spa Resort Hawaiians.

In popular culture

The 2006 film ''

Hula Girls is a Japanese film, directed by Sang-il Lee and co-written by Lee and Daisuke Habara, and first released across Japanese theaters on September 23, 2006. Starring Yū Aoi, Yasuko Matsuyuki, Etsushi Toyokawa, Shizuyo Yamazaki, Ittoku Kishibe, ...

'' was based on the story of the founding of the resort. The resort is featured in the manga series ''

Rent-A-Girlfriend , abbreviated as , is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Reiji Miyajima. It has been serialized in Kodansha's ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' since July 2017, and has been compiled into forty volumes as of April 2025. The ...

'', where it serves as the setting for the Paradise Arc. The Spa features heavily in the plot of the 2021 anime film Hula Fulla Dance, which was made to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the

2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami On 11 March 2011, at 14:46:24 Japan Standard Time, JST (05:46:24 UTC), a 9.0–9.1 Submarine earthquake, undersea megathrust earthquake occurred in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Oshika Peninsula of the Tōhoku region. It lasted approx ...

References

External links

Home page

Home page

Spa Resort Hawaiians
{{Coord, 36.993634, 140.81652 , format=dms , display=title , type:landmark_region:JP-07 Resorts in Japan Iwaki, Fukushima Buildings and structures in Fukushima Prefecture Tourist attractions in Fukushima Prefecture Hula 1966 establishments in Japan