Hawaii | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

September 8, 2026 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Nobuo Fujita

On December 7, 1941, Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, an American naval base in Honolulu. Thousands of American soldiers were killed, and as a result, the United States officially joined World War II in the Pacific.

The United States conducted the “Doolittle Raid,” a comparably small air raid off Tokyo in April 1942, just four months after Pearl Harbor. While the damage to Japan was relatively minor—fifty people were killed—it served as a morale booster for the Allies and a demonstration to Japan that its main islands weren’t safe from air attack.

Following the raid, Japan set out to show that the United States could also be bombed. (NCTAsia) A wartime mentality set in immediately, as coastal residents were commanded to black out their homes at night by covering windows with shades and blankets. (Oregon History Project)

“The Pacific Coast, totally dimmed out … twice previously has been subjected to shelling by submarines – apparently Japanese- but presumably never before has undergone aerial bombardment.”

“On February 23, during President Roosevelt’s fireside chat, a submarine lofted more than fifteen shells into an oil field near Goleta, Calif., 120 miles north of Los Angeles, and on June 21 a submarine pitched nine shells near a United States Army fort at Seaside, Ore.” (Courier Journal, Sept 15, 1942)

Then, “A foot-deep crater, apparently caused by an incendiary bomb gave evidence today of what may have been the first aerial assault on United States home soil, an apparent attempt to set fire to an isolated forest on the southern Oregon coast.”

“The Army’s Western Defense Command, in a carefully-worded communique, disclosed that an unidentified, small seaplane or a type that might have been carried on a submarine was seen coming inland just before dawn September 9, and was heard roaring out to sea about half an hour later.”

“Some time after the plane was seen circling the Mount Emily area nine miles northeast of Brookings, Oreg., a fire was observed, and forestry patrols who extinguished the blaze found a crater and metal fragments …”

“… which the Army said bore ‘markings of Japanese ideographs which may have been part of a code indicating the arsenal where the bomb was manufactured.” (Evening Star, Sept 15, 1942)

It was later concluded that a submarine was fitted with a modified Zero seaplane, that catapulted off the deck of the sub. It was fitted with two 170-pound incendiary bombs and flew toward Mt. Emily in the Siskiyou National Forest.

Piloted by Nobuo Fujita, the plane dropped both bombs on the heavily forested mount slope starting a small forest fire that was easy to control due to the wet conditions. (Fujita was the only foreign pilot to drop bombs on the continental United States.)

“When all was ready, the catapult was fired. [Petty officer Shoji Okuda was his crewman.] I flew straight ahead toward Cape Blanco lighthouse, crossed the coast, and swung northeast for the bombing area.”

“The sun filled the eastern sky with a red-gold brightness. After flying an estimated 50 miles, I ordered Okuda to release the first bomb, which burst, and splashed a brilliant white light over the earthscape.”

“I took no chances on the return flight, for someone had certainly sighted me before. It must not happen again, so I cut the Zero’s engine and glided down to 1,000 feet, passing north of Cape Blanco and well out to sea before starting it again.”

“I flew westward for the amount of time Okuda specified and, on reaching the rendezvous point, looked around me. No I-25 [the submarine].” (Fujita, US Naval Institute)

This attack by the Japanese submarine was intended to start a large enough forest fire that large numbers of resources in men and money would be allocated to suppress a massive wildfire. It was also a reprisal for the American bombardment of Tokyo in April. (Hughel, Oregon NG)

A total of four bombs were dropped over two occasions with the intent of starting forest fires; however, due to damp conditions, little damage occurred.

“It was too wet and it just stopped raining. He dropped these thermite bombs and they just fizzled. They created enough smoke so the forest service saw them,” says Brenda Jacques, a retired reference librarian in Brookings. (OPB)

The war ended on September 2, 1945; in 1962, the Brookings Jaycees invited Fujita to Brookings for their annual Azalea festival as an occasion of historical significance. (Brookings, Oregon)

But not everyone in town was thrilled. A full-page op-ed was printed in the local paper, The Brookings-Harbor Pilot, in 1962. Part of it read, “[Fujita’s] sole claim to fame is that he’s the only Nip pilot who bombed the mainland of the United States by airplane … Why stop with Fujita?”

“Why not assemble the ashes of Judas Iscariot, the corpse of Atilla the Hun, a shovel full of dirt from the spot where Hitler died … .” (“Nip” is a derogatory abbreviation of “Nippon,” the Japanese name for Japan.) (OPB)

Fujita accepted the invitation and came back to Oregon. He donated his Samurai sword, which had flown with him in the cockpit, to the City of Brookings “in the interest of peace and friendship.” Fujita was later named an honorary citizen and an ambassador of goodwill by the City of Brookings for his continued peace efforts. (Brookings, Oregon)

Fujita returned to Brookings in 1990, 1992, and 1995. In 1992, he planted a tree at the bomb site as a gesture of peace. In 1995, he moved the samurai sword from the Brookings City Hall into the new library’s display case.

He died in Japan on September 30, 1997, at the age of 85. His family honored his wishes and buried his ashes by a tree he had planted as a peace gesture at the bombing site during his 1992 visit. (KTVL)

Fujita fulfilled a promise to bring a small group of high school students to Japan for a cultural exchange “I just can’t admire the man enough. Just to keep this friendship between the town and himself. He was so good about that.” (Greg Jacques, OPB)

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 4, 2026 by Peter T Young 4 Comments

‘And Now I Must Pay’

“Ten minutes to eight. Margaret died instantly. She did not suffer. And now I must pay.”

(So said the note found on the seat of a car at the edge of Halemaʻumaʻu Crater at Volcano.) (Chicago Tribune, June 3, 1932)

The next day (June 3, 1932,) an 8.2 earthquake off the coast of Colima and Jalisco in Mexico produced a tidal wave which was recorded strongly at Hilo, Hawaii (little damage and no deaths were recorded.) (Seismicity of the Earth)

“Natives construe the tidal waves which swept the mouth of the Wailoa river and lower Kūhiō bay yesterday as an omen that Pele resents having two lifeless mortals at the threshold of her fiery kingdom.”

“They expressed fear that the tragedy which ended the lives of Sylvester (William) Nunes, 20, and Margaret Enos, 17, may lead to some dire calamity.” (Chicago Tribune, June 5, 1932)

Whoa … let’s look back ….

“The tragedy had its inception when Nunes, a Portuguese, wished to take the young high school student (Enos) in marriage. She declined to consider matrimony.” (Chicago Tribune, June 13, 1932)

“The twenty-year-old youth (Nunes) was educated in American schools and had started a promising business career.”

“About a year ago Sylvester met Margaret Enos. She was a laughing, gay native girl and he loved her smile and bubbling spirits.”

“Occasionally she accompanied Sylvester on motor rides in his smart red roadster. Sometimes they rode to nearby beaches, swam and went surf-riding, a sport at which both were adept.”

“Some weeks ago he proposed to Margaret, ‘I am too young to marry and settle down,’ she told him. ‘Wait a few years – then perhaps who can tell about such things.’”

“But she would accept none of the many gifts Nunes tried to shower on her and refused to commit herself (to) marrying him. … To the seventeen-year-old Hawaiian beauty life was too happy and joyous a thing to be spoiled by the moody bursts of temper of a disappointed admirer.”

“Margaret in a very short time became an obsession with him. He couldn’t eat, was unable to sleep. He bombarded her with impassioned love-letters.”

“When she went out with other native boys he followed them and watched in agony the girl’s flashing eyes and listened to her laughter. The things he saw were innocent enough. Margaret was a respectable girl but the sight of a rival’s arm on the back of her chair and her gayety at parties shot poison into his heart.”

“Several times he warned her boy-friends, “Margaret is engaged to me. Leave her alone!””

“In the end Sylvester, with his spying, his letters and his jealous protests, became such a nuisance that the girl told him she never wanted to see him again. He threatened, cajoled and pleaded, but the girl merely shook her little head.”

“After that final quarrel Nunes disappeared temporarily from Hilo, where both lived. For a week no one saw or heard from him. … Then one late afternoon, the jilted admirer reappeared in Hilo.”

“In his red roadster he drove straight to the home.” (Fresno Bee, July 24, 1932) “Margaret’s sister, Mrs. Manuel Furtado, with whom she lived, grappled with Nunes.” (Chicago Tribune, June 3, 1932)

”‘I will go,’ said Margaret with assumed placidity … Obviously she thought she could quiet him once they were outside. But Mrs. Furtado stood in the doorway. ‘You will not go with him,’ she announced. Taking Margaret by the hand, Nunes tried to push past her older sister. But Mrs. Furtado seized him by the coat and would not let go.”

“In a rage, the young Hawaiian shot the woman through the hand. While Mrs. Furtado screamed with rage, Nunes picked up the girl and carried her to his waiting car. She fought, bit and scratched, but his superior strength proved too much for her.”

“‘I will kill you unless you keep still,’ he told the girl. Terrified, she allowed him to drive her away. The revolver he kept by his side as they drove through the sleepy streets of Hilo.”

“As police later reconstructed the story, Nunes drove about the country for several hours. Again and again he begged the beautiful girl to marry him.” (Fresno Bee, July 24, 1932)

“Taking Margaret to the volcano, where sweethearts are in the habit of keeping trysts, it is presumed he again made his protestations of love and asked her to marry him. She evidently refused, for evidence indicates he shot her and, clasping her in his arms leaped into the fiery pit.” (Chicago Tribune, June 13, 1932)

“Park rangers found Nunes’ rented motor car on the brink of the firepit at noon. It was spattered with blood. On a seat was an automatic pistol and a note which read:”

“‘Ten minutes to eight. Margaret died instantly. She did not suffer. And now I must pay.’” (Chicago Tribune, June 3, 1932)

“With powerful glasses Hawaiian National Park rangers located the bodies of the pair on a ledge 800 feet below the brink of the 1,200 foot deep pit.” (Stanford Daily, June 3, 1932)

“One of the strangest rescues ever attempted was effected successfully today when Rikan Konishi, a Japanese weighing 85 pounds, took the bodies of a despairing lover and the sweetheart he killed from the troubled kingdom of the fire goddess Pele in the smoking crater of the volcano Halemaumau.” (Chicago Tribune, June 13, 1932)

Aided by dozens of helpers, Konishi worked night and day building platforms and used 3 tractors and 2 caterpillars to help string a mile of cable – the effort dragged on for more than a week. The gondola was 30-inches wide and 6-feet long (with 3-foot sides.) (Farabee)

“Lighting a cigaret, Konishi entered a cage he had constructed at 9 o’clock this morning. He sat on a low stool with his head almost hitting the roof, while paraphernalia was packed all around him.”

“He protected himself as best he could against the gaseous fumes of the crater and tied himself with a slipknot to guard against falling out. He also had a telephone contact with his brother-in-law, who remained on the crater’s rim.”

“Konishi phoned directions for raising or lowering the cage, which was manipulated by a winch. As the descent started rocks were dislodged and thundered down as he swung out over the 1,200 foot chasm and descended slowly until he reached Talus slope, 800-feet down, where the bodies lay.”

“Landing about thirty feet from the nearest body, that of the young girl, the midget Japanese wrapped it in canvas. He then walked on loose rocks, holding on to a guide rope, to the body of Nunes, which he prepared in like manner.”

“The bodies were too heavy for the slight rescuer to move, so he attached them to ropes from the cage. He ordered the cage raised until both were dangling together. He then had it lowered until they lay upon a ledge, side by side.”

“He secured them to the bottom of his conveyance, unfurled a white flag to signal success, took a drink of water, and sat calmly in the cage as it made its ascent.”

“He reached the rim from the pit shortly after 6 o’clock this evening with both bodies wrapped in canvas. The entire operation took about eight hours, throughout which Konishi displayed the calm courage of his Japanese ancestors. … Konishi, who is a contractor, will collect $1,000 for his work.” (Chicago Tribune, June 13, 1932)

Benefits and fund-raising efforts over the next two weeks added $1,114 to the $1,000 guaranteed by the National Park so that Konishi could meet his expenses. (Farabee)

Newspaper_account_of_bodies_recovered_at_Halemaumau_Firepit_Hawaii-auburn

September 2, 2026 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Lili‘uokalani Childhood

“Very near to (the site of Queen’s Hospital,) on Sept. 2, 1838, I was born. My father’s name was Kapaʻakea, and my mother was Keohokālole; the latter was one of the fifteen counsellors of the king, Kamehameha III., who in 1840 gave the first written constitution to the Hawaiian people.”

“My great-grandfather, Keawe-a-Heulu, the founder of the dynasty of the Kamehamehas, and Keōua, father of Kamehameha I., were own cousins, and my great-grandaunt was the celebrated Queen Kapiʻolani, one of the first converts to Christianity. “

“She plucked the sacred berries from the borders of the volcano, descended to the boiling lava, and there, while singing Christian hymns, threw them into the lake of fire.”

“This was the act which broke forever the power of Pele, the fire-goddess, over the hearts of her people. Those interested in genealogies are referred to the tables at the close of this volume, which show the descent of our family from the highest chiefs of ancient days.”

“Naihe, the husband of Kapiʻolani, was the great orator of the king’s reign; his father, Keawe-a-Heulu, was chief counsellor to Kamehameha I; while had it not been for the aid of the two chiefs, Keʻeaumoku and Kameʻeiamoku, cousins of the chief counsellor, the Hawaiian Islands must have remained for a long time”.

My grandfather, ʻAikanaka, had charge of the guns of the fort on Punch-Bowl Hill, which had been brought from the larger island of Hawaii; as the chiefs, their families, and followers had settled here from the time of the final battle, when all the forces contending against Kamehameha I were driven over the Pali.”

“But I was destined to grow up away from the house of my parents.”

“Immediately after my birth I was wrapped in the finest soft tapa cloth, and taken to the house of another chief, by whom I was adopted. Konia, my foster-mother, was a granddaughter of Kamehameha I, and was married to Paki, also a high chief; their only daughter, Bernice Pauahi, afterwards Mrs. Charles R. Bishop, was therefore my foster-sister.”

“In speaking of our relationship, I have adopted the term customarily used in the English language, but there was no such modification recognized in my native land.”

“When I was taken from my own parents and adopted by Paki and Konia, or about two months thereafter, a child was born to Kīna‘u. That little babe was the Princess Victoria, two of whose brothers became sovereigns of the Hawaiian people.”

“While the infant was at its mother’s breast, Kīna‘u always preferred to take me into her arms to nurse, and would hand her own child to the woman attendant who was there for that purpose.”

“So she frequently declared in the presence of my adopted mother, Konia, that a bond of the closest friendship must always exist between her own baby girl and myself as aikane or foster-children of the same mother …”

“… and that all she had would also appertain to me just as if I had been her own child; and that although in the future I might be her child’s rival, yet whatever would belong to Victoria should be mine.”

“This insistence on the part of the mother was never forgotten; it remained in the history of Victoria’s girlhood and mine until her death, although Kīna‘u herself never lived to see her prophetic predictions fulfilled. Kīna‘u died on the 4th of April, 1839, not long after the birth of her youngest child, Victoria.”

“I knew no other father or mother than my foster-parents, no other sister than Bernice. I used to climb up on the knees of Paki, put my arms around his neck, kiss him, and he caressed me as a father would his child …”

“… while on the contrary, when I met my own parents, it was with perhaps more of interest, yet always with the demeanor I would have shown to any strangers who noticed me.”

“My own father and mother had other children, ten in all, the most of them being adopted into other chiefs’ families; and although I knew that these were my own brothers and sisters, yet we met throughout my younger life as though we had not known our common parentage.”

“This was, and indeed is, in accordance with Hawaiian customs. It is not easy to explain its origin to those alien to our national life, but it seems perfectly natural to us.”

“As intelligible a reason as can be given is that this alliance by adoption cemented the ties of friendship between the chiefs. It spread to the common people, and it has doubtless fostered a community of interest and harmony.”

“At the age of four years I was sent to what was then known as the Royal School, because its pupils were exclusively persons whose claims to the throne were acknowledged. It was founded and conducted by Mr Amos S Cooke, who was assisted by his wife.”

“It was a boarding-school, the pupils being allowed to return to their homes during vacation time, as well as for an occasional Sunday during the term.”

“The family life was made agreeable to us, and our instructors were especially particular to teach us the proper use of the English language; but when I recall the instances in which we were sent hungry to bed, it seems to me that they failed to remember that we were growing children.”

“A thick slice of bread covered with molasses was usually the sole article of our supper, and we were sometimes ingenious, if not over honest, in our search for food …”

“… if we could beg something of the cook it was the easier way; but if not, anything eatable left within our reach was surely confiscated.”

“As a last resort, we were not above searching the gardens for any esculent root or leaf, which (having inherited the art of igniting a fire from the friction of sticks), we could cook and consume without the knowledge of our preceptors.”

“I can remember now my emotions on entering this the first school I ever attended. I can recall that I was carried there on the shoulders of a tall, stout, very large woman, whose name was Kaikai (she was the sister of Governor Kanoa, and they were of a family of chiefs of inferior rank, living under the control and direction of the higher chiefs).”

“As she put me down at the entrance to the schoolhouse, I shrank from its doors, with that immediate and strange dread of the unknown so common to childhood.”

“Crying bitterly, I turned to my faithful attendant, clasping her with my arms and clinging closely to her neck. She tenderly expostulated with me …”

“… and as the children, moved by curiosity to meet the new-comer, crowded about me, I was soon attracted by their friendly faces, and was induced to go into the old courtyard with them. Then my fears began to vanish, and comforted and consoled, I soon found myself at home amongst my playmates.”

“We never failed to go to church in a procession every Sunday in charge of our teachers, Mr. and Mrs. Cooke, and occupied seats in the immediate vicinity of the pew where the king was seated.”

“The custom was for a boy and girl to march side by side, the lead being taken by the eldest scholars. Moses and Jane had this distinction, next Lot and Bernice, then Liholiho with Abigail, followed by Lunalilo and Emma (after the latter had joined the school), James and Elizabeth, David and Victoria, and so on, John Kīna’u and I being the last.”

“From the school of Mr. and Mrs. Cooke I was sent to that of Rev. Mr. Beckwith, also one of the American missionaries. This was a day-school, and with it I was better satisfied than with a boarding-school.” (Lili‘uokalani)

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)