Lānaʻi: Reflecting on the Past; Bracing for the Future

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Back Matter
(Center for Oral History, Social Science Research Institute, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, 2014)
Interview with Jane Sakamura Nakamura
(Center for Oral History, Social Science Research Institute, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, 2014) Nakamura, Jane Sakamura, 1933-; Nishimoto, Warren; Kodama-Nishimoto, Michiko
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.
Interview with Matsuko Kaya Matsumoto
(Center for Oral History, Social Science Research Institute, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, 2014) Matsumoto, Matsuko Kaya, 1928-; Nishimoto, Warren; Kodama-Nishimoto, Michiko
Matsuko Matsumoto, second of four children, was born in 1928 in Kapaʻa, Kauaʻi. Her parents, Teiichi and Kimiyo Kaya, were immigrants from Japan. At the time of her birth, her father was a Makee Sugar Company field worker. Preferring to work in pineapple rather than sugar, Teiichi Kaya moved his family to Lānaʻi where he operated a mule-drawn plow, picked pineapple, and did hō hana. Kimiyo Kaya tended to the family and took in laundry from bachelor workers. In later years, due to poor health, Teiichi Kaya became an office custodian. Matsuko Matsumoto, a graduate of Lānaʻi High and Elementary School, began full-time work in 1946 as a storeroom clerk for Hawaiian Pineapple Company. In later years, she labored in the pineapple fields. In 1962, she began supervising youths who signed on for summer work. By the early 1970s, she was promoted to become the first female field superintendent. She retired in 1985. She and Yukio Matsumoto, a Hawaiian Pineapple Company carpenter who helped build many of the homes which still stand in Lānaʻi City, raised two sons, Colbert and Kurt. Matsuko Matsumoto, widowed in 2001, still maintains a home on Lānaʻi. A grandmother of four, she enjoys visiting her grandchildren on Oʻahu and Kauaʻi.
Interview with Hideko Kurashige Saruwatari
(Center for Oral History, Social Science Research Institute, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, 2014) Saruwatari, Hideko Kurashige, 1927-; Nishimoto, Warren
Hideko Saruwatari was born in 1927 in Lānaʻi City, Lānaʻi. She is one of six children born to Aiko and Iwao Kurashige. Both parents were employed by Hawaiian Pineapple Company. Her mother held various jobs: bi-lingual assistant in the household of engineer, David Root; dormitory cleaner and laundress for Hawaiian Pineapple Company employees; and helper in the company bakery and hotel. Her father, initially hired as a heavy equipment operator, helped clear Pālāwai Basin for pineapple cultivation. In later years, he was a movie theater projectionist and a storeroom clerk. Hideko Saruwatari attended Lānaʻi High and Elementary School. While still in school, she worked part-time in the company storeroom. In the summer, she worked in the field, cutting the tops of pineapples. During World War II, she helped her mother at Endo’s Fountain. In 1948, she married Masao Saruwatari, who also worked in the storeroom. In the 1960s, she did bookkeeping for the Nishimura Service Station. For more than thirty years, she worked as a clerk in the Licensing Office, Maui County. The Saruwataris raised four children.
Interview with Albert Halape Morita
(Center for Oral History, Social Science Research Institute, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, 2014) Morita, Albert Halape, 1950-; Nishimoto, Warren
Albert Halape Morita, one of eight children, was born in 1950 in Hoʻolehua, Molokaʻi, to Richard and Anita Morita. At the time of Albert’s birth, his father was a police officer on Molokaʻi. About a year later, the family moved to Lānaʻi where Richard Morita secured the position of fish and game warden – a position he held for twenty-five years. The Moritas resided in Kōʻele, former headquarters of Lānaʻi Ranch. Their neighbors were the Richardsons, the Kwons, the Sakamotos, and the McGuires. As a youth, Albert Morita hiked, camped, fished, hunted, and participated in horse-related activities. A 1968 graduate of Lānaʻi High and Elementary School, he majored in animal technology at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. Returning to Lānaʻi in 1972, he was employed by the Kōʻele Company in nursery and beach park maintenance at Maunalei and Hulopoʻe. Following his father’s retirement as Lānaʻi’s sole fish and game warden, Albert Morita was hired as one of two conservation officers by the State of Hawaiʻi. Retired since 2007, he still resides on Lānaʻi. He is an active volunteer with the Lānaʻi Culture and Heritage Center.
Interview with Robert Kinoshita
(Center for Oral History, Social Science Research Institute, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, 2014) Kinoshita, Robert, 1931-; Nishimoto, Warren; Kodama-Nishimoto, Michiko
Robert N. Kinoshita, youngest and fourth child of Hatsuno and Jisaburo Kinoshita, was born in 1931 in Lānaʻi City, Lānaʻi. His mother tended to the needs of the family, took in the laundry of bachelor workers, and was assigned the daily task of heating and cleaning a community bathhouse. His father, a planting foreman employed by the Hawaiian Pineapple Company and later, co-founder of Pine Isle Market, took an active leadership role in the Japanese community of Lānaʻi. In his youth, Robert Kinoshita helped his mother at the bathhouse, raised and sold chickens, worked in the pineapple fields during summers, and helped with Pine Isle Market milk deliveries. During World War II, his relatives, Masaru Kinoshita and Etsuchi Morikawa, were removed from the island and interned. With the U.S. at war with Japan, he was subjected to anti-Japanese sentiments. In 1950, he graduated from Lānaʻi High and Elementary School. About a year later, he left Lānaʻi, to continue work with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Entomology and Plant Quarantine. He later served in the active and reserve army, 1954–1987. President of Pine Enterprises, Inc., he oversees business operations from Honolulu. He and wife, Mildred, raised three children.
Interview with Liberato "Libby" Viduya
(Center for Oral History, Social Science Research Institute, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, 2014) Viduya, Liberato "Libby", 1937-; Nishimoto, Warren; Kodama-Nishimoto, Michiko
Liberato C. Viduya, Jr., second of four children, was born in 1937, in Lānaʻi City, Lānaʻi. His father, Liberato Viduya, Sr., who emigrated from the Philippines, was employed by Hawaiian Pineapple Company. Starting as a field laborer, he rose up the ranks to luna. His mother, Loreta Viduya, a Filipino immigrant raised and educated on Maui, held various jobs, including that of court interpreter. The Viduyas actively participated in community, school, and church-related activities. Liberato C. Viduya, Jr., grew up in the Stable Camp area of Lānaʻi City. He attended Lānaʻi High and Elementary School. As a high school senior in 1955, he was awarded first place in public speaking at the National Future Farmers of America Conference in Kansas City, Missouri. He earned BA and MEd degrees from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. During a forty-five-year career with the Hawaiʻi State Department of Education, he held various positions: teacher, counselor, and principal; assistant superintendent for the Office of Instructional Services; and superintendent for Central and Leeward Districts on Oʻahu. He and wife, Loretta, have one daughter and three grandchildren. The Viduyas reside in Pearl City, Oʻahu.
Interview with Roberto Hera
(Center for Oral History, Social Science Research Institute, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, 2014) Hera, Roberto, 1936-; Nishimoto, Warren
Roberto Hera, second of four children, was born in 1936 in Kealakekua, Kona, Hawaiʻi, where his maternal grandparents farmed coffee. His mother, Marcellina Hera, was raised and educated on the Big Island of Hawaiʻi. His father, Florentino Hera, originally from Cebu, Philippines, received a degree in engineering from the University of Chicago. In 1937, the Heras moved to Lānaʻi where Florentino Hera was employed as an agricultural engineer by the Hawaiian Pineapple Company. He also served as branch manager of the Filipino Federation of America. Roberto Hera was raised and educated on Lānaʻi. Following his high school graduation in 1954, he attended college for a short while, worked in Honolulu, and entered military service. Returning to Lānaʻi in the mid-1960s, he started his decades-long career with Dole Pineapple Company. He worked in virtually every department until his retirement in 1990 as a superintendent. After a few years with the Nature Conservancy, he was coaxed to return to Dole as Director of Facilities. Retired for a second time in 1999, he remains active with ʻIke Aina, Native Hawaiian Land Trust, on Lānaʻi. He has seven children, thirteen grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren.
Interview with Apolonia Agonoy Stice
(Center for Oral History, Social Science Research Institute, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, 2014) Stice, Apolonia Agonoy, 1941-; Nishimoto, Warren
Apolonia Stice, second of three daughters, was born in the sugar plantation community of Spreckelsville, Maui in 1941. Her parents, Matias and Romualda Agonoy, were immigrants from Ilocos Norte, Philippines. In 1942, the family moved from Maui to Lānaʻi where Matias Agonoy worked in the pineapple fields and Romualda Agonoy tended to the children and took in laundry. The family resided first in Down Camp, later Up Camp. All three daughters played with others in the neighborhood, attended the Catholic Church, and studied at Lānaʻi High and Elementary School. A 1959 recipient of a Dole Scholarship, Apolonia Stice, was able to attend the University of Hawaiʻi and Marylhurst College. Following college graduation, she pursued a teaching career, which spanned three decades, including a two-year stint with the Peace Corps in the Philippines. Retired since 1995, Apolonia Stice enjoys spending time with her husband, Gary, her daughters, and grandchildren. He currently serves as president of the Friends of the East-West Center in Honolulu.
Interview with Wallace Tamashiro
(Center for Oral History, Social Science Research Institute, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, 2014) Tamashiro, Wallace, 1938-; Nishimoto, Warren
Wallace Tamashiro was born in 1938, in Lānaʻi City, Lānaʻi. His parents, Richard Buichi Tamashiro and Shizuko Tamashiro, were both born in Waipahu, Oʻahu, and spent some of their formative years in Okinawa, Japan. Married in 1937 on Oʻahu, they raised a family on the island of Lānaʻi. Wallace Tamashiro, the eldest of four children, attended: Lānaʻi High and Elementary School, Waipahu Elementary School, and Mid-Pacific Institute. During breaks in the school year, he helped at the family business, Richard’s Shopping Center, a general merchandise store founded by his father in Lānaʻi City in 1946. He made deliveries and unloaded freight. After graduating from the University of Hawaiʻi, he spent some time working in California. He returned to Lānaʻi at the request of his father who needed help running not only the store, but a bowling alley and theater. From 1967, Wallace Tamashiro helped run Richard’s Shopping Center until it was sold to David Murdock in 2006. He and his wife, Nancy, still reside in the same home in Lānaʻi that they purchased in 1971
Interview with Harold Look
(Center for Oral History, Social Science Research Institute, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, 2014) Look, Harold, 1927-; Nishimoto, Warren; Kodama-Nishimoto, Michiko
Harold Look, eldest son of Tai Chan and Violet Look, was born in 1927, in Honolulu, Oʻahu. His father was an employee of American Can Company. Harold Look grew up in Pālolo Valley where he could hike and pick wild fruit. He had a newspaper route and caddied at a nearby golf course. During summers, he helped at his uncle’s piggery and worked in the pineapple industry at a cannery and at American Can Company. An alumnus of St. Louis School, he completed his studies in general agriculture at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa in 1950. While still a college senior, he held jobs at the Moanalua Dairy and the Pineapple Research Institute. Following college graduation, he worked first on Molokaʻi, then Lānaʻi. On Lānaʻi, he was hired as a potential assistant superintendent in research. When he was not offered the permanent position but offered a lesser job, he opted not to continue employment. He leased and operated for seven years a piggery that was no longer run by the Hawaiian Pineapple Company. While still operating the piggery, he was recruited as a substitute teacher. In 1957, he and wife Janet left Lānaʻi for Oʻahu so that he could pursue a degree in education. For almost three decades, he served as principal at various elementary schools.
Interview with Alfred Lopez
(Center for Oral History, Social Science Research Institute, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, 2014) Lopez, Alfred, 1932-; Nishimoto, Warren
Alfred Lopez, second of six children, was born in 1932 in Lahaina, Maui, to Emily and Sabino Lopez. His mother was born and raised on the Big Island of Hawaiʻi. His father was an immigrant field laborer from the Philippines. On Maui, the family resided in Pioneer Sugar Company’s Kiawe Camp. In 1935, the family moved to Lānaʻi where his father did field work, first as a mule man, later as a luna, or foreman. His mother, while tending to the family and household, took in workers’ laundry. Alfred Lopez attended Lānaʻi High and Elementary School. Married at an early age, he entered the labor force, holding down various jobs, including setting pins at the bowling alley, working at the theater, cleaning yards, and doing construction jobs. In the mid-1950s, he began working at Pine Isle Market where he was assigned various tasks. He also did pineapple field work and road work. Retired from employment with the State of Hawaiʻi (Highways and Airport Division), he still continues to work at Pine Isle Market. He and his wife Alfonsa have a family of five children, fifteen grandchildren, and thirty-three great-grandchildren.
Interview with John Park
(Center for Oral History, Social Science Research Institute, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, 2014) Park, John, 1945-; Nishimoto, Warren
John M.W. Park, Jr. was born in Lānaʻi City, Lānaʻi, in 1945. His mother, Margaret Myung Sun Park, tended to the needs of a household that included John and his four siblings, his parents, and a grandfather. His father, John Myung Whan Park, Sr., a longtime Hawaiian Pineapple Company storeroom manager, was active in the community. He served as a scoutmaster and basketball coach. On Lānaʻi, John M.W. Park, Jr. participated in sports and scouting. He attained the rank of Eagle Scout. A 1963 graduate of Lānaʻi High and Elementary School, he earned his bachelor’s in education degree from Central Washington University. He was a classroom teacher and counselor for several years on the island of Oʻahu. Retired, he now resides in Mililani, Oʻahu.
Interview with Susan Minami Miyamoto
(Center for Oral History, Social Science Research Institute, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, 2014) Miyamoto, Susan Minami, 1919-; Nishimoto, Warren
Susan Miyamoto was born in 1919 in Pāʻia, Maui, where her father, Jusaku Minami, an immigrant from Kumamoto-ken, Japan, worked at the sugar mill. He also grew and sold watermelons. Her mother, Fujiyo Minami, gave birth to ten children, seven of whom survived beyond early childhood. The Minami family, composed of mother, father, grandmother, and seven children, were residents of Lānaʻi, beginning in 1924. They lived in Namba Camp, then Crusher Camp, and finally Lānaʻi City. Jusaku Minami’s first job on Lānaʻi was with a crew of workers building a stone wall at Kaumālapaʻu. Later, he rose from field worker to foreman of women field workers. He also grew and sold vegetables. Susan Miyamoto attended Lānaʻi High and Elementary School until the tenth grade. In 1938, she completed the eleventh and twelfth grades at McKinley High School on Oʻahu. Returning to Lānaʻi that same year, she began office work at Lānaʻi Hospital. In 1972, she retired as office manager. She and her husband, Sadao, raised five children.
Interview with Takeo Yamato
(Center for Oral History, Social Science Research Institute, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, 2014) Yamato, Takeo, 1932-; Nishimoto, Warren
Takeo Yamato, third of four children, was born in 1932 in Kohala, Hawaiʻi Island. His father, Shinji Yamato, a machinist/arc welder for Kohala Sugar Company, continued his skilled trade on Lānaʻi when he found employment with Hawaiian Pineapple Company in 1934. His mother, Miyono Yamato, did the laundry of bachelor laborers and worked in the pineapple fields. As a youth, Takeo Yamato also worked in the pineapple fields—cutting grass, picking and carrying out fruit. He attended Lānaʻi High and Elementary School. Graduating in 1950, he was employed by contractors, Western Builders. He worked on the Dole Administration Building in Lānaʻi City. Later, he enlisted in the U.S. Air Force that stationed him in various places, including Guam and Japan. Discharged in 1960, he worked for Ralph’s Grocery Co. Bakery in California for thirty years. In 1991, he returned to Lānaʻi to look after his elderly parents. He also worked in maintenance and housekeeping at the Mānele Bay Hotel. Since 1997, Takeo Yamato devotes his time to crafting wood canes and other objects.
Interview with Robert Hirayama
(Center for Oral History, Social Science Research Institute, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, 2014) Hirayama, Robert, 1939-; Nishimoto, Warren
Robert Masato Hirayama, Jr., the oldest of four siblings, was born in 1939 in Lānaʻi City, Lānaʻi. His father, Robert Masato Hirayama, Sr. and mother, Sadako Hanamoto Hirayama, settled on Lānaʻi after living on Hawaiʻi Island, where Robert, Sr. was a carpenter on a sugar plantation at Pāʻauhau. Robert, Sr. worked in a similar capacity on Lānaʻi as carpenter for Hawaiian Pineapple Company. The Hirayama family lived in Lānaʻi City, Block 17, House 19. Robert Hirayama, Jr. attended Lānaʻi High and Elementary School, graduating in 1957. With an aspiration to be a high school shop teacher, he attended and graduated from The Stout Institute in Menomonie, Wisconsin. In 1961, he taught one semester at Kailua High School before beginning his forty-year career as a shop teacher at Leilehua High School on Oʻahu from 1962 to 2002. A longtime Wahiawā,Oʻahu, resident, he often returns to Lānaʻi to hunt and fish. He still owns and maintains the family home in Lānaʻi City.
Interview with Warren Osako
(Center for Oral History, Social Science Research Institute, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, 2014) Osako, Warren, 1946-; Nishimoto, Warren
Warren Michio Osako, youngest of four children, was born in 1946 in Lānaʻi City, Lānaʻi. His parents, Mitsue and Yoshikazu Osako, originally from Hawaiʻi Island, moved to Lānaʻi in 1937. In the early years, his mother worked as a maid in a plantation manager’s home, later she worked at the Lānaʻi Post Office. His father worked as a foreman in the Hawaiian Pineapple Company’s machine shop where machinery was repaired and fabricated for plantation use. Warren Osako attended grades K-8 at Lānaʻi High and Elementary School. In 1960, he began his high school years at Oʻahu’s Mid-Pacific Institute. Graduating in 1964, he completed college courses in California and Hawaiʻi, later earning a degree in Anthropology from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. During his youth and young adulthood, he worked summers on Lānaʻi: picking pineapple, doing field surveys, and driving a delivery truck for Pine Isle Market. While in the U.S. Army, 1966–1969, he received language-training in Korean and was stationed in Korea. From 1970 to 2004, he was employed as a flight attendant by United Airlines. Retired and residing in Lānaʻi, Warren Osako is a volunteer at the Lānaʻi Culture and Heritage Center. He also serves on the Maui County Cultural Resources Commission.
Interview with Robert Tsumura
(Center for Oral History, Social Science Research Institute, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, 2014) Tsumura, Robert, 1939-; Nishimoto, Warren; Kodama-Nishimoto, Michiko
Robert Tsumura was born in Lānaʻi City, Lānaʻi in 1939. His parents, originally from Honolulu, Oʻahu, moved to Lānaʻi two years prior. His father, Masashi “Mustache” Tsumura, initially employed as a field work supervisor, later became a personnel supervisor and athletic coordinator for the Hawaiian Pineapple Company. Still later, he became director of the Lānaʻi Community Welfare Association that took care of the island’s gym, theater, bowling alley, and other services. His mother, Helen Tsumura, was employed in the Hawaiian Pineapple Company administrative office. Robert Tsumura and his younger sister attended Lānaʻi High and Elementary School and Mid-Pacific Institute in Honolulu, Oʻahu. During his summer vacations, he, too, worked for Hawaiian Pineapple Company, picking pineapple and helping in the experimental department. He studied at the University of Hawaiʻi and entered military service. Later, he held various jobs before a long career with Island Movers. Retired since 2001, he and his family reside on Oʻahu.
Interview with Jane Lee Gabriel
(Center for Oral History, Social Science Research Institute, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, 2014) Gabriel, Jane Lee, 1933-; Nishimoto, Warren
Jane Lee Gabriel, daughter of Korean immigrants, Sun Yei Lee and Bong Hee Lee, was born in Lānaʻi City, Lānaʻi in 1933. Her father, Sun Yei Lee, was employed as a field luna by the Hawaiian Pineapple Company. Her mother, Bong Hee Lee, took in laundry from Korean bachelors employed by the Hawaiian Pineapple Company. Her parents supported a family that included six children. As a youth, Jane Gabriel helped her mother with the laundry, worked in the pineapple fields in the summers, babysat and house-cleaned for the island’s Caucasian residents. She and her family were active in the Korean community. She attended Korean-language classes and the Korean Methodist Church. A 1951 graduate of Lānaʻi High and Elementary School, she lived for short periods of time on Oʻahu. Married to John Gabriel since 1954, she raised four daughters. For many years, she worked for the public library and the welfare office on Lānaʻi. Retired since 1993, Jane Lee Gabriel is grandmother to seven and great-grandmother to six.
Interview with Felix Ballesteros
(Center for Oral History, Social Science Research Institute, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, 2014) Ballesteros, Felix, 1932-; Nishimoto, Warren
Felix Ballesteros, third of six children, was born to Ilocano immigrants, Telesforo and Maria Ballesteros, in 1932, in Kaʻelekū, Hana, Maui, where his father cultivated and harvested sugar cane for the Kaʻelekū Sugar Company. In 1943, the family moved to Lānaʻi City, Lānaʻi, where Telesforo Ballesteros continued to work as an agricultural laborer for the Hawaiian Pineapple Company. During World War II, Felix Ballesteros earned a little money shining the shoes of soldiers stationed on the island, while his mother supplemented the family income by doing the soldiers’ laundry. From the age of twelve, he also worked in the pineapple fields when Lānaʻi High and Elementary School was not in session. Following graduation in 1951, he held various jobs on Lānaʻi and the Big Island of Hawaiʻi. He worked as a bowling alley pinsetter, a seasonal pineapple field worker, a construction worker, sugar cane harvester, seed cane planter, and coffee picker. In 1955, he returned to Lānaʻi where he did seasonal work for Hawaiian Pineapple Company. From 1956 to 1979, he worked at the Nishimura Service Station, taking on more and more tasks to the point of becoming a full-fledged mechanic, servicing Hawaiian Pineapple Company vehicles. A school custodian on Lanai from 1979–1993 and a part-time employee of Maui Soda since 1975, Felix Ballesteros still works for Maui Soda Company. Married since 1957, he is the father of two children, grandfather of four, and great-grandfather of two.

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