In the Ho‘okupu Center at the end of Kewalo Basin Park, music played between conversations in both English and Japanese in an intercultural exchange hosted by Moore Aloha, a female empowerment nonprofit founded by champion surfer Carissa Moore.

It was the second day of the Japan-U.S. Global Exchange program, with 14 youngsters ages 10-14 from Makinohara, Japan, who participated in Hawaiian cultural activities like surfing, hula and lei-making. The event was the first of its kind for Moore Aloha, started by the Olympian and world champion to empower young women through sports.

“The goal for this exchange in particular is to share our (Hawaiian) culture that I’m very proud of, and the culture and sense of aloha that has raised me,” Moore told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. “Hopefully, those kids can take that back and share that wherever they go in their own lives.”

Moore, who won the World Surf League Women’s Championship Tour in 2011, 2013, 2015, 2019 and 2021, was the first athlete to earn an Olympic gold medal in surfing at the Tokyo 2020 Games.

The partnership with Makinohara, a city on the southeastern coast of Japan, was rooted in Moore’s own experiences there, when the city hosted the Team USA surfers during the Tokyo 2020 Games.

“The Tokyo Olympics took place during COVID, and I wasn’t able to bring with me my family or any of my friends,” Moore said. “The sense of warmth, aloha and generosity that I felt from that community really, really touched me, and I felt like it helped me reach gold. I wanted to give back to that community and those people for what they had given me.”

Moore Aloha partnered directly with Makinohara city, which handled the process of selecting the 14 participants in this week’s program. The selected students studied English and the meaning of aloha in preparation for their visit, as well as raised money to donate to Maui wildfire relief efforts.

Students on this exchange, in addition to Wednesday’s events at the Ho‘okupu Center, visited Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, did yoga and surfed on the North Shore and conducted a beach cleanup. Moore also participated Tuesday in a traditional Japanese tea ceremony with Mayor Rick Blangiardi and Makinohara Mayor Kikuo Sugimoto.

This week’s activities follow a cultural exchange event in Japan that Moore conducted in October 2022, when she visited Makinohara and Shimoda cities and led surf workshops for youth, as well as participated in Japanese cultural activities.

“The Global Exchange has been really beautiful,” Moore said. “I think it’s brought together a lot of people, and I would like to see this continue with other students from this city or expand it in Japan, but to go to other countries as well.”

Global Exchange is just one facet of Moore Aloha, which was founded in 2018. The nonprofit also runs daylong surfing and wellness events in Hawaii and on the U.S. mainland; conducts a monthly scholarship program; and this year, sponsored several mentorship programs, which connected girls between ages 10 and 16 with Moore and other professional surfers.

Participants in Moore Aloha’s mentorship program were invited to participate in Wednesday’s activities with the Global Exchange students, an experience Sunny Kazama, 17, said was “a great way to connect with people and exchange culture.”

Kazama, who has participated in Moore Aloha events since the nonprofit’s inception, said she caught her first wave when she was just a baby and has surfed ever since. She began surfing competitively last year, and said Moore Aloha’s mentorship program helped her gain confidence.

“I’ve always been a fan of (Moore), and I think after doing my first Moore Aloha event, that made me love her as a person even more, because not only is she a good surfer, but she stands for a good cause,” Kazama said. “Through her program, I’ve definitely felt myself becoming more empowered and confident in and out of the water.”

Being invited to participate in the Global Exchange, Kazama said, was “super cool.” Not only was it an opportunity for her to practice her Japanese, but being able to share activities that she loved with others was central to the empowerment in this program.

“In a way, it kind of represents my life. I’m a surfer, I also took hula and I’m also part Japanese,” Kazama said. “I have my surf buddies here, I have my new buddies from Japan, and we’re just doing all these activities that I love to do. I just feel so happy doing what I love, I think that’s where the empowerment in this program comes from.”

For Moore, the goals of her nonprofit stretch beyond the technical skills of sport, but also into fostering a community of harmony, kindness and aloha.

“For me, it’s all about not only having skills in the ocean, but just being a well-rounded, good human. To share those values with the next generation, I think, is super important,” Moore said. “It’s all about sharing love, making connections, empowering people to live a positive life.”

Moving into 2024, Moore said she hopes her nonprofit will continue to grow and perpetuate values of kindness and joy within communities around the world. In terms of personal goals, Moore will be returning to the Olympic stage next summer at the 2024 Paris Games.

“I feel very fortunate for the opportunity to be participating in the Olympics again, and representing the USA, but also my home in Hawaii,” she said. “It’s an awesome opportunity to bring surfing to more eyes and a different audience, and hopefully share more love and aloha through that.”