Interview with Jane Sakamura Nakamura

Abstract

Jane Toshie Sakamura Nakamura was born in 1933 in Honokaʻa, Hawaiʻi Island. Her father was Masaru Sakamura, a carpenter for Honokaʻa Sugar Company; her mother was Hatsuko Matsuura Sakamura, originally from Paʻauilo. In 1937, before Jane Nakamuraʼs fourth birthday, the family moved to Lānaʻi City, where Masaru and other Big Island carpenters began working for the Hawaiian Pineapple Company, building homes and other structures. Hatsuko found employment as a clerk at Yet Lung Store, and later at Mermart Store, Okamoto Store, and finally, Richard’s Shopping Center. As the eldest of six children, Jane Nakamura had many childcare responsibilities as both her parents held fulltime jobs. She attended Lānaʻi High and Elementary School, graduating in 1951. An excellent student, she was the first recipient the company’s Dole Scholarship. She used it to pursue a degree in teaching from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. She spent a year attending Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, where she also practice-taught. At Bucknell, she was exposed to the larger world and was asked to give talks about Hawaiʻi to various groups in Pennsylvania. She returned to UH-Mānoa and earned her fifth-year teaching certificate in 1956. After practice-teaching at University Laboratory School, she briefly returned home and taught kindergarten for one semester at Lānaʻi High and Elementary School. Dissatisfied with kindergarten teaching, she returned to Oʻahu and taught at the following elementary schools: Helemano, Nimitz, Lanakila, Pearl City Highlands, and Waimalu. She retired in 1990. She married Takeshi Nakamura in 1957. A longtime airline industry employee, Takeshi died in 2000. A devout Christian who teaches Bible classes, Jane Nakamura lives in ʻAiea, Oʻahu.