LIHUE — Yoshie Rogers could have been standing on the same ground Thursday that her grandfather stood upon a century ago. “My grandfather, Harumoto Noda, moved here from Kochi Prefecture in Japan, in 1913 — 100 years ago,” Yoshie said.
LIHUE — Yoshie Rogers could have been standing on the same ground Thursday that her grandfather stood upon a century ago.
“My grandfather, Harumoto Noda, moved here from Kochi Prefecture in Japan, in 1913 — 100 years ago,” Yoshie said. “He worked as a translator for the G.N. Wilcox Memorial Hospital and lived in Kilipaki Village.”
Yoshie was joined by her mother, Sachiko (Noda) Tanaka of Kochi Prefecture, Japan, as the couple poured over pictures of her grandfather and his old photos of the area while waiting on the return of Paulo, the oldest operating steam locomotive in Hawaii.
The Japanese family was just one of the many families and people waiting for a ride aboard the historic locomotive on Fire Up Day, when Grove Farm Homesteads Museum engineer Scott Johnson and Sam Maehata fire up the museum’s historic locomotives.
“This is Yoshie’s second trip to Kauai,” said Guy Rogers, Yoshie’s husband. “She tried to find Kilipaki Village, but no one seemed to know about it until she visited the Kauai Museum.”
Now, being joined by her mother, the family visited the Lihue Hongwanji Mission where they discovered the death certificate of Masaju Noda, one of several children born to Harumoto Noda and the brother of Sachiko Tanaka.
“We asked the reverend to pray for his soul,” Yoshie said. “He was the only one left when my grandfather returned to Japan with his family in 1924.”
Yoshie said his grandfather loved Hawaii, but his bride kept saying, “When are we going home?” Finally, in 1924, he broke down and took his family, all but the young boy who died, back to Kochi.
Ron Nadarski and his family, returning on a Paulo trip down the Grove Farm right-of-way, said Yoshie’s saga was such a touching story — a person trying to connect with her past.
Nadarski, a director with the Phoenix Trolley Museum, said he came to the celebration after his daughter sent him a clipping about the event offering free rides and hearing about the event from a train club.
“I became interested after seeing something about electric trains,” Nadarski said. “It’s not something everyone hears about, and I wanted to find out more after reading about it.”
Mia Leineweber, 2, of Kapahi, simply loved the train.
“We were here since 9:30,” said Jackie Leineweber. “Mia just loves the train. This is her second ride this morning.”
For Yoshie Rogers and her family, the excitement was only starting.
“We went to the hospital where she started taking photos,” Guy said.
Among the collection of photos in the collection, Yoshie had a group photo depicting George Norton Wilcox with the group of immigrants.
Yoshie said she would be interested in speaking with anyone who has information on her grandfather while he was living on Kauai.
Johnson said the excited Japanese woman isn’t the first who has been able to connect to roots in Kilipaki.
“We had an 83-year-old woman on one Fire Up Day who grew up here,” Johnson said. “She didn’t want her name publicized, but said it was all right if I said she was Art Fujita’s aunt.”
The Grove Farm Homestead Museum offers Fire Up Day on the second Thursday of each month at the Haleko facility, the former employees’ parking for the Lihue Sugar Mill.
• Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
