Hawai'i's seaborne ambassador, the voyaging canoe Hokule'a, pulled into Japan's Yokohama Harbor at midday yesterday, completing a remarkable voyage that started in January and has carried the crew through the waters of several Pacific nations and across 8,500 miles of ocean.

"We're about to pass under the Yokohama Bay Bridge," skipper Bruce Blankenfeld said by satellite telephone at 3 p.m. Hawai'i time yesterday.

"It's been just an awesome voyage," said navigator Nainoa Thompson.

The canoe left Hawai'i five months ago with the voyaging canoe Alin-gano Maisu, which was delivered as a gift by the Hawaiian voyaging community to Micronesian navigator Mau Piailug, who brought the ancient art of non-instrument navigation back to Hawaiian sailors.

While visiting Piailug at his home island of Satawal, five Hawaiian navigators were presented with a mark of high esteem and accomplishment: They were awarded the official rank of pwo, a navigator in the Micronesian Weriyeng school of non-instrument navigation. The five are Chad Baybayan, Shorty Bertelmann, Blankenfeld, Chadd Paishon and Thompson.

That portion of the voyage was entitled Ku Holo Mau, which organizers translated "sail on, sail always, sail forever." The second half of the trip, Ku Holo La Komohana, "sail to the western sun," took Hokule'a north to Okinawa and a cruise through the islands of Japan.

Yesterday, the canoe completed its voyage from Hawai'i, arriving from Uwajima. Crew members were preparing for a busy schedule for the canoe and crew over the next week, with school presentations, canoe tours, public talks and more through June 16.

Thompson said that no one involved in the organization of the mission anticipated the level of welcome the canoe experienced as it commemorated King Kalakaua's 1881 visit to Japan, and stopped at regions that sent Hawai'i many of its early Japanese immigrants.

"Every one of our opinions and biases about Japan, whatever they were, has changed," Thompson said.

"We visited the islands and rural parts of the country. We found Japan to be extraordinarily beautiful. The people, their generosity, their aloha and their kindness have been striking."

Crew members found similarities between the ocean-going cultures that were otherwise very different, he said.

The canoe itself performed well and made the voyage without damage.

"I think Hokule'a did extraordinarily well, thanks to our leadership: Bruce, Chad, Chadd and everybody else. Safety is always a concern, and I'm just glad that everybody is going home safe and healthy," Thompson said.

Once the public education programs are complete, the crew will offload the canoe's gear into a shipping container, load the double-hulled craft onto a cargo ship, strap it down onto heavy wooden blocks covered with carpet and rubber padding, and ship the canoe home.

The canoe's escort and companion for the past 150 days, the motorsailer Kama Hele, will sail home alone.

Reach Jan TenBruggencate at jant@honoluluadvertiser.com.