Voyaging canoe Hokule'a leaves Uwajima for Yokohama this morning on the final leg of its historic cruise through the islands of Japan.

Crewmember Chadd Paishon said the most meaningful part of the Uwajima stop was the crew's visit to the city's fisheries school, which is where the training vessel Ehime Maru sailed from before it was sunk in a collision with a U.S. submarine off Hawai'i in 2001. Four of the nine victims of the event were students at the fisheries school.

"We were greeted by the new Ehime Maru when we came into port," Paishon said.

At the fisheries school ceremony, participants discussed the importance of the voyaging canoe's visit.

"Their belief was that when Hokule'a came, it would be bringing the spirits of their family members home to Japan," he said.

The families of seven of the victims participated in the ceremony with the canoe crew. They and representatives of the other two families were given kahili, or feathered standards, "representing aloha from the people of Hawai'i," Paishon said.

The canoe, along with its escort boat Kama Hele, was greeted by the mayor of Uwajima.

The canoe crew conducted regular tours for interested residents. Crew members went out into the community to give talks. And on Wednesday night (Hawai'i time), 10 fisheries school students and two of their teachers spent the night on board the canoe.

Paishon said that veteran sailor Bruce Blankenfeld will skipper the canoe on its final leg to Yokohama, with Na'alehu Anthony and Ka'iulani Murphy as watch captains. The voyage is expected to take roughly a week.

The canoe could stop along the way, but no firm decisions about locations have been reached.

"We're looking at several places, but that will all depend on the weather," he said.

Daytime temperatures on land have been in the 70s, but it has been chilly in Japanese waters at sea, said Paishon, who is from the uplands of Waimea on the Big Island.

"It's been nice Waimea weather on the ocean," he said.

Yesterday, winds were light and from the northeast, and the crew was watchful for weather systems that seem to blow through every four days or so, he said. During the Japan trip, the canoe has sometimes pulled into port to avoid particularly rough weather.

Back in Hawai'i, services have been scheduled for Hokule'a's captain during its first voyage, Elia David Ku'ualoha Kawika Kapahulehua. A public service will be held from 9 to 11 a.m. Sunday at the Elks Club on Kalakaua Avenue at the Diamond Head end of Waikiki.

Kapahulehua, a catamaran and yacht captain, oversaw the canoe's 1976 voyage to Tahiti, which launched the rebirth of Polynesian canoe voyaging.

"This voyage was the turning point, a time of change during the resurgence of Hawaiian culture and rebirthing of Polynesian voyaging canoes," said Polynesian Voyaging Society president Nainoa Thompson.

Kapahulehua's ashes will be scattered at sea after Hokule'a returns from Japan. The canoe is scheduled to be shipped from Yokohama to Hawai'i.

Reach Jan TenBruggencate at jant@honoluluadvertiser.com.