how to change mysql database encoding from latin to utf8

[Tapas Mishra]

I checked
mysql> create database sakai;
Query OK, 1 row affected (0.00 sec)

mysql> show create database sakai;
+----------+------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Database | Create Database                                                  |
+----------+------------------------------------------------------------------+
| sakai    | CREATE DATABASE `sakai` /*!40100 DEFAULT CHARACTER SET latin1 */ |
+----------+------------------------------------------------------------------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)

Now section 7.0 of following page
https://confluence.sakaiproject.org/display/DOC/Sakai+2.7
says I should be having
CHARACTER SET utf8 */ |

for mysql on sakai to run.
So how to achieve it.
This is mysql 5.1+ on lucid 64 bit.