60th Cherry Blossom Festival Contestant
Erin Ai Shiroma
Parents Names: Robert and Mimi Shiroma
High School: Hawaii Baptist Academy, 2007
College: Concordia University – Irvine, 2011
Degree: Bachelor of Liberal Studies in Child Development
Occupation: Kindergarten Educational Assistant and Supervisor of Elementary After School Care Programs at Our Savior Lutheran School
Ambition: To obtain a masters and pursue a life of example and inspiration.
Hobbies: Baking, reading, shopping, running, and traveling.
Hinamatsuri, commonly known today as girls day, is the Japanese tradition where intricately decorated hina dolls are given or bought for a newborn girl wishing her happiness, health, and growth. Every year after, these dolls are displayed and traditional foods, like the hina-mochi are symbolically used in the celebration. It is this tradition that has immense value to me because it is not only a celebration of how much I have grown happily and healthy, through the support and guidance of my family, but it is a celebration of the relationship between me, my grandparents, and my parents. Although this tradition has been localized over the years, and the pink, flower-shaped hina-mochi is only indulged, I cherish my hina dolls given to me by grandparents, and always remember how blessed I am to have happiness and health.