Thanks to sponsorship in part by the Hawaii Tourism Authority, the group had the opportunity to travel to Japan in the summer of 2001 for 11 days. The tour started in the Hiroshima Prefecture and continued through 8 cities and 800 miles by bullet train. While in Hiroshima, they visited the Hiroshima Peace Park which became the launching point of Maui Taiko’s peace initiatives. Maui Taiko performed at the Nichibei Taiko Festival in Fukuyama City, a suburb of Hiroshima, which concert was hosted by the Fukuyama Chamber of Commerce, a sister chamber to the Maui Japanese Chamber of Commerce. Maui Taiko then traveled north to the Fukushima Prefecture and performed at the Fukushima Expo in Sukagawa City.