The Japanese, my barber once told me, "don't really think of Hawaii as America -- for us, it's more like part of Japan." But after Sept. 11, many Japanese who might have otherwise booked a wedding in Honolulu or a golf holiday in Maui suddenly realized that Hawaii really was part of the United States -- remember Pearl Harbor? -- and thus, a potential terrorist target. Flying there on Oct. 31, I gazed out at row after row of empty seats, not what I would ordinarily expect to see at the start of the peak tourist season.

I have always been a nervous flier, but the thought of turning down my invitation to the Hawaii International Film Festival did not occur. OK, it occurred, but I never seriously considered bailing. Hawaii is one of my favorite places and HIFF one of my favorite festivals. Launched in 1981, HIFF was a pioneer in bringing the films of Asia to the West. Although other, bigger festivals with more media buzz have since surpassed HIFF as venues for Asian cinema, the festival still has a strong Asian focus, with 58 features and six documentaries from the region on the 2001 program.

I had already reviewed several, including Koki Mitani's "All About Our House," Shinobu Yaguchi's "Waterboys," Masato Harada's "Inugami" and John Williams' excellent "Firefly Dreams," for this paper (the last, by Tokyo resident John Williams, won the Golden Maile Award in the HIFF competition). I had also caught a few at other festivals, including two Korean blockbusters, "The Foul King" and "JSA (Joint Security Area)."