Aloha e Friends, 

YES! We did it! We got our 500 and I have been seeing it continue to go up throughout the day. The community support is so heart-warming! But there is still 15 days left, which means we're only half way through the campaign period. SOOOO, 1000 orders is not out of reach by any means! If we reach 1000, we could get agent representation. I always visualized this book in the hands of many different kids of children around the world. If the children are of Okinawan ancestry, they could celebrate their own heritage. And if they are of another ancestry, maybe they will become curious about connecting to their own. All while learning the wonderful Japanese philosophy of IKIGAI — living your life's purpose. So now the goal is 1000 preorders!

Today, I also want to talk about how I met my talented illustrator. I live in Hawai‘i and she lives in Argentina. A mutual friend of ours connected us. And we were all somehow inspired by Grandmaster Choichi Terukina. My illustrator, Flor Kaneshiro, and I have never even met in person yet. Please take a look at her amazing work on her website https://florkaneshiro.com.