The voyaging canoe Hokule'a and her escort boat Kama Hele yesterday pulled into the harbor at Itoman, Okinawa, at 6 a.m. Hawai'i time (1 a.m. today, Okinawa time), a spokeswoman said.

Despite the early hour, about 150 people greeted the vessels and crews at the harbor on the southwestern side of Okinawa. A group of about 100 people from Hawai'i who live in Okinawa last night hosted a dinner reception for the crew members, Polynesian Voyaging Society spokeswoman Kathryn Muneno said.

Other activities planned include school visits, canoe tours, a workshop and a visit to the Marine Museum in Motobu, Okinawa. Crew members from the Big Island plan to carry messages from children of a Punana Leo school in Hilo. The children wrote their Hawaiian greeting in kanji as part of a new program that teaches the students the Japanese language characters as a strong basis to learn oral languages.

Hokule'a will likely depart Okinawa for Kumamoto on Friday or Saturday.

The canoe accompanied voyaging canoe Alingano Maisu from Hawai'i to Micronesia on the first part of the voyage, where the latter canoe was presented as a gift to the Micronesian voyaging community.

Now Hokule'a is proceeding on the second part of its voyage, Ku Holo La Komohana (Sail on to the Western Sun), a goodwill mission to the islands of Japan.