Coming Soon to Japan: The Hōkūleʻa (ホクレア)

(Image courtesy of the Hōkūleʻa wikipedia page)
The Hōkūleʻa, a replica of ancient Polynesian voyaging canoes and sailed using the techniques of the ancient Polynesians, made its first voyage in 1976. That first trip was made from Hawaii to Tahiti in an attempt to retrace the migratory routes that historians believe connect the island nations of the Polynesian Triangle. Since that first successful voyage the Hōkūleʻa has gone on the Voyage of Rediscovery, where they navigated over 16,000 miles throughout the Pacific Ocean, as well as other voyages.
In 2007, the Hōkūleʻa will be coming to Japan to celebrate the historical connections between Hawaii and Japan.
The scheduled stops are as follows; right now they are in Micronesia waiting for the proper weather conditions (info from the University of Hawaii):
Yap (Micronesia) to Okinawa - est time of travel 14 days, time in port 5 days
Okinawa to Kumamoto - est time of travel 7 days, time in port 4 days
Kumamoto to Nagasaki - est time of travel 1 day, time in port 3 days
Nagasaki to Fukuoka - est time of travel 2 days, time in port 5 days
Fukuoka to Oshima, Yamaguchi - est time of travel 2 days, time in port 4 days
Yamaguchi to Hiroshima - est time of travel 1 day, time in port 5 days
Hiroshima to Uwajima - est time of travel 1 day, time in port 4 days
Uwajima to Yokohama - est time of travel 7 days, time in port 8 days

If you are in town, go and greet these fine travelers!

Other links of interest:
The Museum of Japanese Emigration to Hawaii (on Oshima Island)
The Polynesian Voyage Society's Voyage Weblog
The Polynesian Voyage Society's Main Page
Information about the trip in Japanese
A Honolulu Star-Bulletin article
The Honolulu Advertiser's page on the 2007 Voyages