The son of Japanese immigrants Shigetaro and Yukuyo Shiramizu, Lihu‘e Plantation News editor and The Garden Island sports editor Chiyozo “Joe” Shiramizu (1916-1995) was born and raised in Lihu‘e Plantation’s Mill Camp at Hanama‘ulu.
“Joe’s” father was one of a number of hui contractors who worked for Lihu‘e Plantation.
Each hui contractor would take special care of the cane crop growing in a specific cane field, from the time the seed cane was planted, doing all things necessary to grow the sugarcane properly, until the sugarcane was harvested at maturity some 18 months later.
The sugar factory would then process the harvested sugarcane from each hui contractor’s field, and after the output of the sugarcane juices and the tonnage were recorded, the hui contractors would be paid a bonus that reflected how well they did their jobs, which was over and above their usual one-dollar-a-day wage.
While “Joe” was growing up, Japanese constituted the largest ethnic group in Mill Camp, and Filipinos were second.
There were very few Koreans and Chinese, while the Portuguese comprised a good portion, but were not as numerous as the Filipinos and the Japanese.
In those days, also, Mill Camp’s Lihu‘e Plantation employees and their dependents purchased much of their goods, produce and other products from Hanama‘ulu Store, run by Antone Nobriga, the store’s manager and the postmaster of Hanama‘ulu.
“Joe” Shiramizu was educated at Hanama‘ulu School and was a graduate of Kaua‘i High School Class of 1933.
He remembered Mrs. Carlotta Stewart Lai (1881-1952) well, the principal of Hanama‘ulu School from 1929 to 1944, and an African American.
“I liked her. And she married Mr. Yun Tim Lai, who was the ace salesman of Garden Isle Motors, Kaua‘i’s Ford dealer. Nice Chinese man, oh, anybody would love him. Cause Carlotta Stewart, you know, from the mainland, falling in love with Mr. Lai, you know. That was quite a time they had. They were both, very, very cohesive with the community. Good personality. Oh, she had one of the longest tenures as a principal at Hanama‘ulu.”
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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
