By Curtis Narimatsu

Honomu village is 12 miles north of Hilo along the original King Sugar [Cane] heritage corridor.  Its former C. Brewer-owned sugar mill 1880 stopped operations in 1946 [merged w/Pepe`ekeo Sugar Mill].  King Kalani`opu`u was Kamehameha the Great’s uncle & war mentor.  After Kalani`opu`u died in 1782, Kamehameha the Great went on to unite the Hawaiian Islands under his singular command. Kalani`opu`u descendants include Kekulu Peleiholani (1854-1905), mother of David Peleiholani Kalani Sr. (1879-1947).  Both mother/son are buried on Kalani estate land south of Yoshio Tanimoto estate [Tanimoto theater chain, not Akaka Noodle Shop family].  Kalani High School in Wai`alae is not named after Kalani`opu`u. David Jr. was backyard musician w/pal/legend Gabby Pahinui.  David Sr. was Honomu land baron, being headlined via nobility. Read the rest of this entry »

(Curtis Narimatsu is a lifelong resident of Hilo who writes about the forgotten past such as the old plantation days & untold heroes.)

Hilo High’s Class of 1958 stole the Honoka’a “Dragon,” so to speak.  Our kids born 
1940 that graduated in 1958 include Kea’au Paul Bunyanesque Jimmy Arakaki,
mega-developer Roland Higashi [Ed Case's point man], gorgeous Lorraine Rodero
Inouye from my native Wainaku village [camp 3 Sankai], Waipahu icon Cal Kawamoto [from Honomu], & solon Bob Makuakane.  Harry Kim belongs w/this peerage but was born in 1939.  Jimmy

Former Eight-Year Council Chair James "Jimmy" Arakaki thinks the recent reorganization successfully pitched by freshman council members Dennis "Fresh" Onishi and Guy Enriques was "kinda stupid, actually."

Arakaki’s beginnings were fraught with failure/rejection — Jimmy was an orphan who was raised so  lovingly by Jimmy’s deceased dad’s immigrant/Issei Okinawan/Uchinanchu parents.  No Jimmy’s biological mom’s family/kazoku did not raise him.  Jimmy learned humility/compassion from his even-handed grandparents.  But as a hormonal teen, not wanting to be pegged as having been raised by old farts,  Hercules-handsome Jimmy was known as the bull/protector of old Ola’a/Kea’au village.  Honomu’s toughest hombre/Uchinanchu Earl Nakasato born 1942 remembers Jimmy Arakaki as the warrior prince of old Ola’a, revered as fearless among Jimmy’s villagers a la Bibilical warrior prince Gideon.   Jimmy moved to O’ahu after high school and returned to Hilo in 1978, where today he is a most prosperous insurance mogul.  But in 1978, Jimmy sold funeral plans out of old Dodo Mortuary’s cavernous building [built in 1923, with the first mortuary elevator on this island] in the center of the block on Ponahawai St. between Punahoa St. & Mamo St.  Ever at heart a defender of the everyday commoner, Jimmy’s virginal foray into politics played out in Ola’a earthy fashion.   Developer Blackfield Ltd. wanted to raze/do urban renewal of today’s farmers market bounded by Ponahawai/Punahoa/Mamo St. corridor. Read the rest of this entry »