KAPA‘A — Small black stains dotted the base of the Japanese Lantern in Kapa‘a Beach Park, challenging restoration specialist Andrea Morse’s attempts to match new color to the statue’s faded paint Friday. Morse, who traveled from the Sculpture Conservation Studio
KAPA‘A — Small black stains dotted the base of the Japanese Lantern in Kapa‘a Beach Park, challenging restoration specialist Andrea Morse’s attempts to match new color to the statue’s faded paint Friday.
Morse, who traveled from the Sculpture Conservation Studio in Los Angeles, is on Kaua‘i for the second time working to restore the lantern to its original state. She was here for two weeks in January and hopes to complete the task during this stay.
So far she’s spent more than 170 hours working on the lantern, which was neglected — and even buried for decades — following World War II.
“It’s just a great project,” she said. “It’s one of the hardest because it was so much worse than what we imagined.”
The 93-year-old statue was built in 1915 by the Japanese community in Kapa‘a to commemorate the Russo-Japanese War of 1905 and to honor Emperor Taisho’s ascension to the throne in 1915.
But during World War II the lantern was buried because of growing anti-Japanese sentiment — and it stayed underground for more than 30 years.
It wasn’t until parents noticed a metal rod sticking out of the ground at the park and asked for its removal that the lantern was discovered. The statue was dug up, only to be buried again less than 24 hours later because no one would claim it.
In the late ’80s, it was unearthed again and fitted with steel braces with plans for restoration. After Hurricane ‘Iniki struck in 1992, all fundraising and restoration plans for the lantern were abandoned. It wasn’t until a volunteer group with Leadership Kaua‘i decided to take the lantern on as their project did the restoration plans begin again.
During this recent visit, Morse has painstakingly recreated missing portions of the lantern and re-inscribed missing Japanese kanji, or letters.
A Japanese couple who understood the kanji told Morse that the characters tell the story of the emperor of Japan’s ascension to the throne.
“We have so few monuments,” Rayne Regush, a volunteer with Leadership Kaua‘i, said. “It’s great to get one on the Eastside.”
Before the project is finished, Regush said a large bulb will be placed at the top so it will look like it did in 1915. Although the statue used to feature a gas-powered light, the new lantern will not be lit.
The Kaua‘i Business Association plans to hold a dedication and celebration for the lantern on March 20.
“The conservation restoration effort is part of the historical conservation project,” Regush said. “It’s all about bringing it back to how it was in 1915.”
• Rachel Gehrlein, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 225) or rgehrlein@kauaipubco.com.
