My cherished collection of Kauai memories began when I was 8 years old. Born in Paia, Maui, I had lived on Oahu with my family until my father was transferred to Hawaiian Telephone Co. on Kauai when I was 8.
My cherished collection of Kauai memories began when I was 8 years old.
Born in Paia, Maui, I had lived on Oahu with my family until my father was transferred to Hawaiian Telephone Co. on Kauai when I was 8.
We packed up, said our goodbyes to family and friends and boarded a plane for Kauai. As young as I was, as soon as we landed at Lihue Airport, I felt I had come home.
I was right. Kauai has been my home ever since.
My family, though, lived on Kauai for just 10 years. During that time, every weekend was filled with experiences and adventures we had never had before.
Many weekends, we would camp at Anini beach. There, we spent every waking moment frolicking in the placid Anini waters. We would catch sand crabs that populated the beach or collect swordtails and mosquito fish from Anini streams.
Some weekends we were lucky enough to spend in a company cabin in Kokee. On those weekends, we hiked the numerous trails; picked luscious Kokee plums when they were in season; and explored the many lookouts and scenic points in the area.
Because of our Hawaiian background, we got to know and eventually became a part of the different Hawaiian organizations. Once we did, we spent a great deal of time at Prince Kuhio Park in Poipu, helping restore the historic park, planting coconut trees, maintaining the grounds and sometimes enjoying potlucks with people who had quickly become close friends.
When I entered high school, my parents and I grew to love the traditions of other cultures. My mom and I became avid bon dance fans. We loved the rhythmic music and the dances that accompanied them and eagerly learned all we could. Every weekend during bon dance season we would travel to different bon dances around the island and join in the festivities. After a while we became familiar sights, accepted by the other dancers. They taught us, encouraged us, even advised us on what type of kimono to buy. It was such a lovely time.
When summer bon dance season was over, we found another unlikely entertainment outlet. We started going to Japanese samurai movies each week. (Well, they probably had a more formal title but that is what I always called them. I’m sure Dennis Fujimoto could tell you what they should be called.)
I have never been big on blood and gore flicks but fortunately those early films were pretty restrained. Oh, swords were always flashing around but they rarely connected on camera, thank goodness.
You have to remember I was a teenage girl in high school (when crushes often occur). There were two popular actors, each the son of another famous actor. They were pitted as rivals, although I think the movie companies did this for publicity more than anything else.
Hiroki Matsukata (sigh, my favorite) was the son of Jushiro Konoe.
Kin’ya Kitaoji’s dad was Utaemon Ichikawa. Both fathers were highly respected actors . Actually Kitaoji was the better looking of the two but I only had eyes for Hiroki Matsukata. (So much so that long after I was married, Wayne and I stopped at a pier in Kailua-Kona on the Big Island to check out the prestigious International Billfish tournament. Imagine my surprise when they announced that the winner was Hiroshi Matsukata. I never got to see him, just heard his name announced, which was probably a good thing. He was much older and I was able to keep my teen memory intact. Coincidence? Karma? I will never know. But I smiled a lot that day.)
Besides these films, we also enjoyed musicals and the singers who performed in them, like Hashi Yukio, Sayuri Yoshinaga and Hibari Misora. I even bought their albums and played them constantly to my brother’s disgust.
I wasn’t alone, though. I had friends in school who felt the same way about the actors and singers. We all would buy expensive glossy magazines just for the stories and pictures of our favorites they contained.
All of that lasted until I graduated from Kapaa High school and went back to Oahu for college.
Shortly after that, Wayne and I were married and family memories became the focus of my collection.
My life on Kauai has been rich and full. I could never live anywhere else. Once Kauai gets ahold of your heart, she never lets go.
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Rita De Silva is former editor of The Garden Island and a Kapaa resident.
