The son of Japanese immigrant contract sugar workers Buhachi and Hashi Esaki, Joseph Taketsugi Esaki (1919-2010) was born in Japan and was raised in Papa‘a Valley, Kaua‘i.
In 1939, he enrolled at the University of Hawai‘i and had hoped to enlist in the Army while at the university in 1941, when the United States entered World War II, but was forbidden to do so since he was considered an enemy alien for having been born in Japan.
He stayed in school instead, and after graduating with a bachelor’s degree in sugar technology in 1943, he returned to Kaua‘i, where he worked for Lihu‘e Plantation for a spell before joining his brother Tetsuo and his father on the family farm in Moloa‘a Valley.
During the war, the Esakis raised produce for the thousands of military personnel stationed on Kaua‘i.
Joseph’s college training and meticulous experimentation with watermelons came to fruition in 1945 with his development of the Esaki watermelon, by his crossing and recrossing of three varieties: the Klondike for size, the Chilean for its bright red color, and the vigorous Tom Watson.
Joseph Taketsugi Esaki subsequently became well-known locally as “The Watermelon Man,” while making trips around the island peddling watermelons.
His wife, Michiko, worked hard in the fields with him, and took care of the house as well, and their children Merle, Paul, Dennis, Clement and Godwin also helped out on their farms in Anahola and in Aliomanu, where there were no close neighbors, a lot of pineapple fields around, and where the family went fishing for food at night and on weekends.
Later, Joseph purchased a 35-acre homestead lot in Kapa‘a Homesteads and raised papaya, banana, sweet potatoes and tomatoes.
Esaki’s Produce of Kapa‘a was founded by Joseph and Tetsuo Esaki and was eventually sold to current owner Earl Kashiwagi.
Kaua‘i farmer Joseph Taketsugi Esaki was also involved in politics, helping his friend Raymond X. Aki become county chairman, was Water Board chairman, and was active in the farm bureau, the East Kaua‘i Soil Conservation District, the Anahola Japanese Community Association and the Kaua‘i Farm Fair.
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Hank Soboleski has been a resident of Kauai since the 1960s. Hank’s love of the island and its history has inspired him, in conjunction with The Garden Island Newspaper, to share the island’s history weekly. The collection of these articles can be found here: https://bit.ly/2IfbxL9 and here https://bit.ly/2STw9gi Hank can be reached at hssgms@gmail.com
And where can we get one of these Esaki watermelons, enquiring mind wants to know. I’m from Kansas and we had the best river bottom watermelons ever!
I admire the tenacity and work ethic of this man and his family. When life handed him lemons he grew watermelon!
Where can we get an Esaki watermelon?