History

Grandma Nonaka’s Legacy Still Lives Carolyn Morinishi Special to The Hawai‘i Herald “Kyö wa Odaisan yo. Pau kaukau, we go.” Takano Nonaka of Hanapëpë, Kaua’i, or Baban as her grandchildren affectionately called her, was as committed to spirituality as she was to her family. Every month during the 1960s, she would call to her grandchildren....

Minidoka Camp Educator Works to Prevent a Repeat of E.O. 9066 Alan Suemori Special to The Hawai‘i Herald The Minidoka War Relocation Center opened on Aug. 10, 1942, in the wake of the signing of Executive Order 9066, President Franklin Roosevelt’s surrender to the wave of fear and paranoia that washed over the country after....

Japanese Immigrants Helped Put Kona’s Coffee Bean on the Map Dan Nakasone Special to The Hawai‘i Herald As I listened to Takeo Nakasone’s story, I was struck by a sense of place and time that began on a coffee farm on the western slope of Hualälai on Hawai‘i Island. It is where Takeo grew up....

The Photographer Captured Street Life in Honolulu’s Chinatown As It Began to Disappear Wayne Muromoto Commentary, Special to The Hawai‘i Herald Memory is a funny thing. It can be selective . . . as my wife often reminds me when I forgot to do a household chore. It can become dramatized into a fable —....

Hawai‘i Congressman Participates in 75th Anniversary of Vosges Liberation U.S. Congressman Ed Case Special to The Hawai‘i Herald I thought I understood the incredible story of the Nisei veterans of the 100th Infantry Battalion and 442nd Regimental Combat Team and the Military Intelligence Service, who served overseas in the European and Asia-Pacific theaters, and the....

Nisei Veterans Memorial Center Telling Their Story Inside and Out Melissa Tanji Special to The Hawai‘i Herald Crisp, colorless images of young American soldiers of Japanese ancestry are coming to life on a concrete canvas on the windswept oceanfront campus of the Nisei Veterans Memorial Center. At the center, situated where the towns of Kahului and Wailuku meet,....

Kacie Yamamoto Special to The Hawai‘i Herald Seventy-four years after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which ended World War II, calls for world peace and the preservation of humanity were front and center at anniversary commemorations in Honolulu and in cities around the world for both bombings. Approximately 140,000 people were killed on....

The Kona Shop Has Been Keeping a Hawaiian Tradition Alive for 105 Years Jodie Chiemi Ching “Put your hands into the soil, it’s good for your soul; you get back to where life begins,” said Renee Kimura, the fourth-generation owner and manager of Kimura Lauhala Shop in Kona. Here, the natural scent of the lauhala,....

Recalling the Early Days of Hawaii's Japanese Cowboys Dan Nakasone Special to The Hawai‘i Herald In 1793, British Captain George Vancouver sailed to the island of Hawai‘i, where he presented King Kamehameha I with a gift of six cows. A year later, five more cows arrived at Kealakekua, courtesy of Vancouver. At that point, Kamehameha....

Hilo Remembers the 17 Who Died and the Nine Survivors of the 1942 Torpedo Attack Wayne Yoshioka Published with Permission Editor’s note: Big Island native and recently retired Hawai‘i Public Radio reporter Wayne Yoshioka was invited to deliver the Veterans of Foreign Wars’ Post 3830 Memorial Day address at the East Hawai‘i Veterans Cemetery in....