Economy | Page 2 | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

September 12, 2026 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Ka Nupepa Kuokoa

Ka Lama Hawaii and Ke Kumu Hawaii were the papers of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM,) mainly New England Calvinist missionaries, but produced by and for their students at Lahainaluna School in Maui.

The Hawaiian language newspapers were not the only early papers in Hawai’i. Although Ka Lama and Ke Kumu Hawaii were the first two newspapers to be published in Hawai’i, English language newspapers soon followed.

Ka Nonanona and Ka Elele Hawaii were both edited by Reverend Richard Armstrong, who later became the superintendent of the Department of Public Instruction. Ka Hae Hawaii, official newspaper of that department under Armstrong, also conveyed a Protestant slant.

Some English language papers supported Christianity. The Polynesian (1840-41, 1844-64), was published by James Jackson Jarves of Boston. From 1844 to 1860 it became the official printer of laws and notices of the Hawaiian government. The Friend (1843-1954) was begun by Reverend Samuel Chenery Damon.

In contrast, the Honolulu Times (1849-1851) published by Henry L Sheldon, originally of Rhode Island, opposed the influence of American Protestants, as did the earlier English language newspapers supported by the business community.

After the Honolulu Times ceased publication, Abraham Fornander, who had written for Sheldon, published the Weekly Argus (1851-53). Fornander’s objective was to provide in the Weekly Argus a voice against the government’s Polynesian. From 1853 to 1855 it was published as the New Era and Weekly Argus.

In 1856 Henry Whitney began the Pacific Commercial Advertiser (1856-), which was renamed the Honolulu Advertiser in 1902. In 1882 Whitney also started the Daily Bulletin (1882-) which was later renamed the Honolulu Star-Bulletin.

Henry Martyn Whitney (1824-1904), son of Samuel and Mercy Whitney of the Pioneer Company of ABCFM missionaries, was born on Kauai, and educated in Rochester, New York.

He worked on the American newspaper New York Commercial Advertiser and for the publisher Harper and Brothers, then returned to Hawai‘i where he served as head printer at the Hawai’i government printing plant and business manager of the English-language newspaper, The Polynesian.

In 1861, while he continued to publish the Pacific Commercial Advertiser, Whitney commenced publication of Ka Nupepa Kuokoa.

Ka Nupepa Kuokoa has been described as “the first independent Hawaiian newspaper”, in the sense that it was independent of American Protestants, French Catholics and the government of the Hawaiian kingdom (although published by a missionary son and edited by him, as well as students from the Mission’s Lahainaluna.)

“It is true that a foreign publisher in this city has offered to issue a journal in the Hawaiian language to supply the intellectual want of the native people, and that his offer has been most warmly seconded and espoused by the Missionaries, but as a general thing the natives repudiate it …”

“… not because it may not prove a valuable and instructive journal, but because it is calculated to drive their own paper out of the field, and because they apprehend that it will not be a true reflex of their own opinions and thoughts upon matters and things.” (Polynesian, November 23, 1861)

Henry Whitney’s far-reaching influence as publisher of Ka Nupepa Kuokoa is described by Helen Chapin as being due to his practice of hiring capable Hawaiian editors, such as Joseph Kawainui, SK Mahoe, and JM Poepoe, who published what turned out to be materials of the greatest importance to Hawaiian history. (Chapin; Hori)

In 1861 the editor of Ka Nupepa Kuokoa was L H Gulick. He announced in the paper that Kuokoa would continue where Ka Hae Hawaii had left off, in its support of the missionary position.

In 1866, while still editor of Kuokoa, Gulick started the Hawaiian language newspaper Ke Alaula, with coeditors Anderson O. Forbes and Lorenzo Lyons. All three were also agents and distributors of Kuokoa on outer islands. Ke Alaula was from the Hawaiian Board of Missions.

Ka Nupepa Kuokoa, the Hawaiian language newspaper with the longest publication history, first appeared in 1861. While published with Christian mission support and demonstrating a haole, or European-American stance, it had a long history of publishing information about Hawaiian, or Kanaka Maoli, tradition and culture.

Ka Nupepa Kuokoa published monthly in October, November, and December of 1861, and weekly thereafter until December 29, 1927. In the course of its history it would absorb a number of its rival newspapers.

In Kuokoa were genealogies, tales of gods and goddesses, vivid descriptions of Hawaiian birds, bird catching and fishing practices, instructions on canoe building, summaries of medical practices, accounts of travel through the Islands, and how to speak the Hawaiian language correctly.

In its pages, too, first appeared the stories of John Papa Ii and Samuel M Kamakau, which were later gathered together respectively as Fragments of Hawaiian History (1959) and The Ruling Chiefs of Hawaii. (Chapin; Hori) (The inspiration and information in this summary are largely from Hori.)

Between 1834-1948, Hawaiʻi saw the publication of over 100 different Hawaiian language newspapers. Approximately 125,000 pages were published, equating to roughly 1.5 million pages of ‘ike if transferred to A4 typescript.

(Some suggest the Hawaiian language was ‘banned’; however, existence and growth of Hawaiian language newspapers repudiate the claim that the Hawaiian language was banned.)

September 10, 2026 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Standing Bear

“A Hawaiian by the name of Frank Grouard is living as a scout in the American Army under General Crook, fighting Sioux Indians.” (Kuakoa, September 30, 1876; Krauss)

Whoa, that’s getting waaay ahead of ourselves … let’s look back.

May 23, 1843, Elders Benjamin F Grouard, Addison Pratt, Noah Rogers and Knowlton F Hanks, intending for the Hawaiian Islands, set sail as the first Mormon missionaries to the Pacific Islands. Rather than Hawai’i, they ended up in the Solomon Islands. (Cluff)

In 1846, Elder Grouard married Ana, a local chieffess; a few years later, on September 20, 1850, Frank Grouard was born. A couple years later (1852,) the Grouards and Pratts left Polynesia. In California, young Grouard was turned over to Addison and Louisa Pratt, for care. (His own mother had returned to the islands and later died; Elder Grouard died in 1894.) (Trowse)

The Pratts, with Grouard, emigrated to Utah. Grouard ran away and at the age of nineteen, ended up a Pony Express mail carrier … “out West” through hostile Indian Country (between California and Montana.) (Trowse)

“During one of his trips on a lonely trail he was captured by Crow Indians and taken prisoner. The Crows took him many miles from the road, and in a lonely forest, stripped off his clothes and possessions, then released him to wander alone.”

“He wandered, cold and hungry, a piece of fur for clothing, eating grasshoppers and other bugs for food. When he had given up hope of surviving, he was discovered by a group of Sioux Indians. Because of his expressions of aloha, they took a liking to him.” (Kuakoa, September 30, 1876; Krauss)

There were two factions in the camp – one led by Chief Sitting Bull, the other led by Chief Crazy Horse. Grouard was held for nearly seven years, during the first two of which he was practically a prisoner.

He all but became an Indian, and, though he declared he never, as an Indian, fired upon a white man, he took part in scores of battles against other enemies of the Sioux and in hundreds of forays after game and the horses and cattle of settlers. (Trowse)

“The Sioux took him into a heavily forested area where he was cared for. Chief Sitting Bull adopted him to be his own child of his own blood but with a different language. He grew in stature to be greatly admired by the Indians for his skill and wit.” (Kuakoa, September 30, 1876; Krauss)

He was given the name ‘Standing Bear.’

“In a very short time, he became one of the best riders of wild Indian horses and he became one of the best shots. For nine years he lived with the Indians, his manner becoming much like them.” (Kuakoa, September 30, 1876; Krauss)

He learned the landscape, customs and traditions – all the while constantly on alert to escape captivity. Around age 26, he eventually escaped from his Indian captors. Then, Grouard became an Indian Scout in the American Army under General George Crook, fighting Sioux Indians.

Almost every summer for nearly a dozen years, Grouard was in the field as a scout, commanding as many as 500 scouts and friendly Indians with all the Indian fighters who made reputations in subduing the Indians. He was wounded many times, suffered almost incredible hardships, saved small armies on several occasions and often saved the lives of individual men and officers.

He never led a party to disaster, was invariably chosen to head any “forlorn hope” enterprise or to make any particularly perilous ride; with Grouard, victory followed victory. Gen. Crook never wearied of telling anecdotes of Grouard and praising his favorite. (Trowes)

Crook noted, “he would sooner lose one-third of any command than lose Grouard and accredits him as the greatest scout and rider and one of the best shots and bravest men that ever lived.” (Berndt)

By February 1876, believing there was peace, many Indians were leaving the reservations in search of food. Orders had been given by the American government to return, but they did not take it seriously. General Crook began his winter march from Fort Fetterman, March 1, 1876 with many companies of troops.

When Sitting Bull learned that Grouard was the scout for General Crook, he saw the chance to kill Grouard in battle. By March 17, Grouard located Crazy Horse’s village on the Powder River in Montana. (Dodson) In May 1876, in preparation for the summer campaign, the Army was fitted out at Fort Laramie, Wyoming.

Fort Laramie, founded as a local trading post in 1834 at the confluence of the Laramie and North Platte Rivers, soon served as a stop for folks emigrating West on the Oregon, California and Mormon Trails (the westward migration peaked in 1850 with more than 50,000 traveling the trails annually.)

The US military purchased the post in 1849 and stationed soldiers there to protect the wagon trains. The US Civil War took soldiers away from it and other outposts. The Western migration continued. With the ending of the Civil War, soldiers came back. (Talbott)

Tension between the native inhabitants of the Great Plains and the encroaching settlers resulted in a series of conflicts … this eventually led to the Sioux Wars. The most notable fight, fought June 25–26, 1876, was the Battle of Little Big Horn (Lt Col George Armstrong Custer lost – Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse and others won.) (Grouard was not involved in that fight.)

Most native Americans were confined to reservations by 1877. In September 1877, Chief Crazy Horse left the reservation and General Crook had him arrested. When Crazy Horse saw he was being led to a guard house, he resisted and was stabbed to death by a guard. (Denardo)

In the fall of 1877, Sitting Bull headed north to Canada; life there was tough and in 1881 he surrendered to the US. In 1889 Sitting Bull was shot by Police. (NPS)

Grouard continued in the service of the US government until the end of the Indian Wars. Frank Grouard died at St. Louis, Missouri in 1905 where he was eulogized as a “scout of national fame”.

“To him perhaps more than to any other one man is due the early reclamation of that rich section of the mainland embraced in South Dakota, a large part of Montana, the whole of Northern Nebraska, and the whole of Northern Wyoming. Let us, then, write him as a factor – a Polynesian factor – in the making of the nation of nations.” (Trowse)

(There is conflicting information on the ethnicity of Grouard – Kuakoa reported in 1876 that Grouard was half-Hawaiian; he, himself, claimed to be “partial Hawaiian” (Dobson) and he told Trowse that his mother was a “woman of the Sandwich Islands”. (Trowse) Several others note he was son of a chiefess from the Solomon or ‘Friendly’ Islands (Tonga.))

There is more to the story … After serving with the Confederate Army during the Civil War, John Carpenter Hunton came West to work at Fort Laramie. His brother James came to join him in 1876; James’ headstone tells the rest of his history that ended later that year – “Killed by Indians”.

As noted above, the Sioux Wars military campaign provisioned at Fort Laramie, prior to heading north to South Dakota and Montana. Hunton was fort sutler (providing provisions out of the camp post) – Hunton and Grouard were at the fort at the same time, so it is likely they met.

They had closer ties than that. Hunton lived with/was married to LaLie (sister to fellow scout (and half-breed) Baptiste Garnier (Little Bat.)) LaLie later left Hunton and married Grouard – that marriage didn’t last either, and she left Grouard, too.

Oh, one other ‘rest of the story’ … John Hunton is Nelia’s Great Great Uncle. On a number of ocassions, we visited Fort Laramie and the John and James Hunton gravesites in Wyoming.

September 7, 2026 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Labor Day

Hawai‘i is an exceptional case in American labor history because of its workforce made up of mostly non-white and immigrant workers.

The sugar planters increased the labor supply as needed to decrease labor’s demands. The major sugar planters grew into five big companies that eventually dominated the Islands’ economy.

Alexander & Baldwin, American Factors, Castle & Cooke, C Brewer and Theo H Davies before long constituted a power in the islands that controlled virtually all business and commercial as well as public employment opportunities.

Over the years in successive waves of immigration, the sugar growers brought to Hawai‘i 46,000 Chinese, 180,000 Japanese, 126,000 Filipinos as well as Portuguese and Puerto Ricans, each one used generally to offset the bargaining power of its predecessor.

“It was advantageous to have on your plantation groups from different ethnicities so that if one of them got it in their mind to strike that you would still be able to get things done by the other groups,” says William Puette, the Director of the Center for Labor Education and Research at the University of Hawai‘i – West O‘ahu.

“That obviously, they didn’t admit to this but it laid the groundwork for them to be able to have one group pitted against the other by making sure that they didn’t play well together.”

Hawai‘i’s labor unions during this period were organized based on ethnic groups. Sugar planters pinned these distinct groups against each other by difference in wages, hiring more workers from different countries, and used the Portuguese as a model minority.

Hawaii’s workers attempted strikes since the beginning of the sugar industry beginning in the 1800s. Some of the more significant in size occurred in 1909, 1919, 1924, and 1937.

In 1935, President Roosevelt, as part of his New Deal legislation, passed the Wagner Act giving workers the legal right to organize unions that could demand employer recognition. (UH West O‘ahu Center for Labor Education and Research)

Some unions were able to win small gains, but most strikes were broken and workers were forced to return to the plantations with harsher treatment. (Martinez)

Hawaiian officials expressed harsher anti-union attitudes by undermining the National Labor Relations Board, canceling union contracts, and threatening workers.

Employers froze wages to show that employees would not be hired in other locations. In addition, anti-Japanese hysteria after the bombing of Pearl Harbor deepened discrimination on the islands.

Blake Clark, a professor at the University of Hawaii, wrote in 1942, “A great many mainland Americans believe that most of the Japanese in Hawai‘i are hiding around in the canefields, ready at a signal to leap out and stab us in the back.”

Intimidated Japanese Hawaiians, who made up a significant portion of plantation labor, halted organizing. Police on the islands jailed anyone who did not follow the laws and ILWU membership froze to about 900 from the start of war until 1944.

Pent-up rage made workers receptive to ILWU organizers, due to the difficult conditions of life. Living quarters were more compressed as shacks “averaged less than 500 square feet for a family of five, with as many as eight persons living in a room of about 100 square feet,” and most homes lacked indoor plumbing.

When families requested maintenance of their housing or working facilities, managers deducted the cost from their pay. Controversy also spread about children on plantations in Hilo, working and missing school days.

The timing was ripe. Union organizers mobilized on the islands by speaking to workers’ grievance, as union power surged following the war. Workers from different ethnic and national backgrounds were soon convinced to join the union with each other.

Members of the ILWU went door to door to explain the need to unite under their union and strike in order to gain better wages and working conditions. Union bulletins, newspapers, voting ballots, and contracts were printed in each of the workers’ native languages.

The Sugar Strike of 1946 began on Labor Day. It was the first strike to ever shut down Hawai’i’s powerful sugar industry. More than 26,000 plantation workers and their families went on strike for nearly three months, closing all but one of 34 plantations across the island chain. (HPR)

The strike succeeded in changing the balance of power between workers and the plantation. In collective bargaining, the ILWU secured benefits such as housing, medical, pensions, and wages, as inherent rights for workers instead of privileges granted as favors by plantation owners.

“The politics of Hawai‘i would never be the same after that. And certainly labor relations would not be the same after that,” says Puette.

“Leadership in all the different areas would not be the same because you started to see the rise of people from the different ethnic groups, not just Japanese, but Filipinos, and everybody else which you wouldn’t have seen without that landmark strike of 1946.”

Based on the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, noting Union affiliation of employed wage and salary workers by state, 2019-2020 annual averages, Hawai‘i ranks #1 in 2020 with Percent of Employed – Members of Unions (23.7%) and Represented by Unions (25.7%). New York is #2.

September 6, 2026 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Mānoa Arboretum

Hahai nō ka ua i ka ululāʻau
The Rain Follows the Forest

“Not enough rain and not enough water in the streams are great evils”.

“It appears to me to be unnecessary to again go deeply into the theory of the relation between forests and rainfall when all intelligent and observing people admit that the decrease or increase of rainfall goes pari passu (‘hand-in-hand’) with the decrease or increase of the forests.”

“The forest, which not only produces rain, but also retains the rainwater, holding it among its leaves and branches, its undergrowth, its myriads of roots and rootlets and its fallen debris, letting the rainwater trickle down slowly to the water streams and keeping them supplied for a long time”.

“(T)hat forest is not there. Rain pours down, the water rushes in torrents through the streams to the sea and soon after everything is dry again.” (Gjerdrum to HSPA, 1897)

“The ultimate success of forestry in Hawaiʻi depends on the continued cooperation of individuals and private corporations with the Territorial Government.” (Board of Agriculture and Forestry, December 31, 1907)

In the early-1900s, Mānoa Valley’s lower slopes were stripped of their native vegetation by excessive agricultural cultivation and the overgrazing of cattle.

Without healthy forest cover, rainwater flowed to the ocean rather than recharging the ground water table, Hawaiʻi’s primary source of drinking water. This loss was of special concern to the Hawaiian Sugar Planters’ Association (HSPA,) because sugar required great quantities of water.

In 1918, HSPA established Mānoa Arboretum in order to develop methods of watershed restoration, test tree species for reforestation and collect plants of economic value.

They put Dr Harold L Lyon, a young botanist from Minnesota, in charge of 124-acres at the back of Mānoa Valley. He was, at the same time, superintendent of the Territory’s Department of Botany and Forestation.

The site lies in the ʻili (land division) of Haukulu and ʻAihualama, in Mānoa. Several man-made features, including stone platforms, loʻi and the occurrence of many Polynesian-introduced plants note early use of the site.

One of Dr Lyon’s tasks at the arboretum was to identify trees suitable for rebuilding watersheds. Lyon observed that the adverse conditions of soil created from volcanic rock erosion appeared to affect the growth, survival and eventual death of many tree species.

He also noted that native plants did not thrive in areas that were previously trampled by cattle and other animals. The experiment station’s goal was to find trees that not only could survive in soil containing volcanic rock components, but also would comprise efficient water-conserving forests.

Mānoa Arboretum was a test site to evaluate trees that could be used for reforestation throughout the islands, and to test sugarcane seedlings. The test site became the basis of the Mānoa Arboretum.

Tree-planting was a coordinated effort involving Lyon, HSPA and Territorial Forestry under the direction of Ralph Sheldon Hosmer, the Territorial Forester. The early foresters planted many types of trees on an experimental basis, but concluded that native species were of limited utility and turned largely to introduced species for large-scale reforestation efforts. (Woodcock)

Lyon concluded that healthy forests should be preserved, that heavily damaged native forests could not recover on their own, and that damaged watersheds could be restored with introduced plants. Planting began in 1920, and was essentially completed by 1945.

“As an influential board member on the Agriculture and Forestry Commission, Harold Lyon succeeded in persuading the Territorial Commission to import seed of a vast number of alien tree species. … nearly 1,000 alien species were outplanted in Hawaiʻi forest reserves.” (Mueller-Dombois)

Various trees and plants were imported from diverse areas of the world including Madagascar, Australia, India, Brazil, the Malay states, China, the Philippines, southern Europe, the East Indies, the West Indies, New Zealand, Central America and South Africa. Trees that successfully survived the Mānoa Valley soil conditions and promoted water conservation were then widely planted throughout the arboretum

Eucalyptus species, silk oak, paperbark and ironwood were the most frequently planted trees due to their fast growth and their resistance to adverse environmental conditions. However, these very qualities, as well as their ability to seed profusely, would lead to some species such as tropical ash and albizia. (Iwashita)

The number of trees planted rose to many millions by the 1930s, when the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was available for planting. From 1935 to 1941, with the help of the CCC, an average of close to two-million trees were planted per year in the forest reserves.

Lyon envisioned the plantations as a buffer zone that would be established between the remaining native forests and the lower-elevation agricultural lands to protect the native forests and perform the functions (maintaining input of water to aquifers.)

This large-scale attempt to engineer nature was probably the largest environmental project ever carried out in the islands. Forestry introductions have been a significant contributor to Hawaiʻi’s alien-species crisis, with many of these tree species now problem invasive species. (Woodcock)

In his 1949 annual report to the HSPA entitled, ‘What is to be the fate of the arboretum?,’ Lyon declared the Mānoa Arboretum’s mission to test new plant introductions to be essentially complete; he believed that the HSPA should not remain the arboretum’s custodian.

On July 1, 1953, HSPA conveyed the Mānoa Arboretum to the Board of Regents of the University of Hawaiʻi. The regents were individually entrusted with the fiduciary duty of maintaining the arboretum. In 1962, the Board of Regents transferred the arboretum to the University of Hawaiʻi.

Dr. Lyon remained with the arboretum as its first director under the regents’ and university’s stewardship. After Dr. Lyon’s death in 1957, an advisory committee directed the arboretum until 1961, when Dr. George Gillette assumed the directorship on a part-time basis.

When Dr. Lyon died, the Board of Regents renamed the facility the Harold L. Lyon Arboretum (Lyon Arboretum) in honor of the man so closely associated with its growth and fruition.

In the early years, eight cottages were built on the arboretum site for staff use. The cottages were given alphabetical designations, beginning with cottage “A” at the foot of the hill leading into the arboretum site and ending with cottage “H” at the top of the hill. Lands surrounding the cottages were planted with sugar cane. Dr. Lyon also erected an orchid greenhouse between cottages “F” and “G,” which is still used today.

Cottage “H” was expanded over time and is now the main center of the Harold L. Lyon Arboretum, housing offices, a reception area, an educational office, and a book and gift shop.

Forestry, Forest Reserves, Watershed Partnerships, invasive species and related water and habitat concerns were very much a part of daily activities when I was at DLNR.

I am honored and proud to have served as a director on the Hawaiʻi Forest Institute, an organization dedicated to promote the health and productivity of Hawaiʻi’s forests, through forest restoration, educational programs, information dissemination and support for scientific research.

September 1, 2026 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Sui San Kabushiki Kaisha

“There has been another turn in the affairs of the local fish markets as a result the newly built Gehr market on the right bank of the Wailoa river, above the railroad bridge is to all intents deserted.”

“This was brought about by a hui of Japanese fishermen … who have bought out the entire business of RA Lucas and have taken over the unexpired portion of his lease of the Waiakea fish market.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, September 23, 1907)

On September 17, 1907, Torazuki Hayashi and Hitaro Egawa formed a cooperative named Sui San Kabushiki Kaisha. Kamezo Matsuno and other peddlers and fishermen became associates (“officially known as the ‘Japanese Sea Produce Company.’”) Pacific Commercial Advertiser, September 23, 1907)

Controversy loomed over this business transaction due to many Japanese fishermen committing to sell their catch to the Gehr Fish Market then later changing to support the new Sui San Kabushiki Kaisha. This matter was settled in the courts and US Suisan Kabushiki Kaisha, Limited was in full swing. (Suisan)

Kamezo Matsuno was an “issei” immigrant who came to Hawai‘i from Okikamura, a small fishing village in Oshima-Gun, Yamaguchi Ken, Japan. At around age 29, Matsuno was one of the youngest of the original founders. The other founders were also Issei. (hawaii-edu)

Issei (first generation) were born in Japan and emigrated to the Islands. Like the other ethnic immigrant groups, the Issei generally worked on sugar and pineapple plantations. The term Issei came into common use and represented the idea of a new beginning and belonging.

The children of the Issei were the Nisei, the second generation in Hawaiʻi and the first generation of Japanese descent to be born and receive their entire education in America, learning Western values and holding US citizenship.

Subsequent generations follow the simple counting patter; the Sansei were children born to the Nisei (the third generation;) Yonsei, the fourth generation – born to at least one Sansei parent and Gosei, the fifth generation – the generation of people born to at least one Yonsei parent, etc.

Back at Suisan Kabushiki Kaisha, Limited … in three years, the market’s fish auction became a staple seafood provider in Hilo and in 1911 the founders built a second, more modern, fish market. To help bring in the market’s prized ahi (yellow fin tuna) or onaga (long tailed red snapper,) it also bought several sampans. (Honolulu)

In 1899, Gorokichi Nakasugi, a Japanese shipbuilder, brought a traditional Japanese sailing vessel (called a sampan) to Hawai‘i, and this led to a unique class of vessels and distinctive maritime culture associated with the rise of the commercial fishing industry in Hawai‘i. Japanese-trained shipwrights adapted the original sampan design to the rough waters of the Hawaiian Islands.

A booming fishing business was no match to the massive tsunami that destroyed both fish markets in 1923. Suisan rebuilt, but World War II threatened to dismantle the company next.

Martial law was declared in Hawaii during WWII, property was seized and Japanese fishermen were prohibited from operating their fishing vessels. Many of the company’s Japanese employees were taken to internment camps. (Honolulu)

Suisan started recovering when this ban was lifted at the end of the war and fishing resumed. The reprieve didn’t last long. A second tsunami hit Hilo, and Suisan, in 1946; Suisan rebuilt yet again.

Suisan continued to look forward and gained momentum in the 1950s. Improved fishing methods, technological advances and efficient shipping methods allowed the company to become profitable.

Suisan was able to harvest larger catches and increase exportation of fish. As part of this progressive movement, in 1954, US Suisan Kabushiki Kaisha, Limited changed its name to Suisan Company, Limited and purchased the property at 1965 Kamehameha Avenue.

Unfortunately, in 1960 another large tsunami devastated the Hilo Bay area and the Suisan Fish Market was also affected. While Waiākea businesses and residents relocated, Suisan continued to support fisherman at the mouth of the Wailoa River. (Suisan)

In July 2001, Suisan closed down what got it all started, the original fish auction market. Later, Suisan moved its offices to the Ben Franklin Building at 333 Kilauea Avenue.

The company opened Kona-Suisan in 1976. The second location primarily distributed seafood caught in the Kona area, but also served as a will-call location for Suisan’s West Hawaii accounts.

From 1970 to the 1990s, Suisan experienced a period of rapid growth, requiring a progressive expansion of its food distribution warehouse facilities. In the 1980s, Suisan became the Big Island’s largest food distribution facility. In 2004 Suisan started its Non-Foods Division.

Originally a fish market, Suisan is a one-stop distributor that carries all primary food and non-food items. The Big Island distributor offers a wide range of fresh, frozen, and dry groceries for small and big businesses, including fresh and frozen meats, seafood, fruits, vegetables, dairy items, frozen processed foods, fresh prepared foods, and more. (HawaiiFood)