Kalaupapa Memories

When I told mom that I had written about her father on my blog she was very happy because she said he was not given the credit he truly deserved.  Apparently a later priest recorded that the Americans of Japanese Ancestry Hall in Kalaupapa had been built by the Buddhist headquarters.  He neglected to mention who spearheaded the project.  As for my grandfather, he didn't care.  It wasn't important.  But it was important to my grandmother who dearly loved her husband.

Grandmother told mom that she needed to correct this in Hawaii.  Well...Mom really didn't want to make a fuss.  She was embarrassed and told her mother that it wasn't necessary.  My grandmother, however, was not at all pleased.

Mom says that my putting the truth out on record into cyberspace must be making my grandmother smile.

I'm recording the following from my mother's memories and the memoir her mother wrote.

My grandparents arrived in Kaunakakai, Molokai in 1928.  

They began a Japanese language school along with his duties as the new Zen Buddhist priest at the Rokuonzan Guzeiji Temple in Kaunakakai which is the largest town on Molokai.

Soon after, he went to visit the Hansen's Disease (leprosy) colony in Kalaupapa where there were 47 Japanese victims.

When he arrived there, grandfather was startled to be met by patients so grateful to have a priest of their own religion that they burst into tears.

He quickly learned that the patients were missing the foods they were familiar with so grandfather went back to Kaunakakai and got his congregation to put together food donations of things like mochi and tofu to bring down every month.  Three men went down into the Kalaupapa peninsula with him to help carry the food.

They also wanted to see Japanese movies so grandfather went to Honolulu to pick up silent films to bring back to Kalaupapa.  Since they were silent movies, grandfather apparently did the speaking parts. 

The patients then told grandfather that they would dearly love a Clubhouse of their own.  It would have been nice if they could have joined the other patients helped by Christian priests but this was 1928.  They probably couldn't speak much English and their culture/religion were very different.

Grandfather went to Honolulu and advertised at the Hawaii Hochi and Hawaii Times, Ltd. Japanese language newspapers.  Many years later when mom went to work at the Hawaii Times, Ltd., the reporters told her that they had a lot of respect for her father.  He had taken the reporter/s down to Kalaupapa to show them what was needed.  Mom said she was always treated kindly because she was her father's daughter.

At the main Zen Soto Mission temple at Nuuanu on Oahu, grandfather met Principal Misawa of the Tsurumi Girls High School from Japan and told him of this project.  Mr. Misawa went back to his high school and his students collected enough money for a famous sculptor named Koun Takamura to carve a beautiful Kannon Buddhist statue for the new building.

One of the 47 Japanese patients at Kalaupapa was a carpenter by trade and soon organized the building of the new Clubhouse. 

It is now called the AJA Hall (Americans of Japanese Ancestry) and is being preserved and used as a bookstore.

The meeting hall/clubhouse served as a movie theater, meeting place, sewing group area, temple, etc.  The Kannon statue and other Buddhist artifacts would bring comfort to the patients.  There grandfather gave sermons and prayed with his Kalaupapa congregation.

It was quite an amazing feeling to imagine my grandfather as a young priest walking about this room. 

This lady manning the bookstore told us that she may know more of the history of the AJA hall.  She has my e-mail.  I hope that some day she'll find something she can share with me.

It's hard to know how accurate history can be.  So much depends on the perspective of the researcher/writer.  I'm recording what my grandmother and mother know as the truth. 

I'm picturing my grandmother's happy smile.  And my grandfather?  I still don't think the recognition for his efforts mattered much to him.  What gave him satisfaction was in helping those who needed it.  In that, I believe he was satisfied.  For me... I'm just content that this legacy can be passed down to my cousins and our children.

Molokai: Day #2 (Part 2)

When we first told mom about doing this trip, she wasn't excited about doing it.  She felt that nothing would be the same or preserved after 75 years.

To our delight, she was able to journey back into the past and see the place that the father she admired and loved worked and did so much good.

We had a bagged lunch at Kalawao which is on the northeast side of the peninsula.  Kalaupapa is on the northwest side.

The views there were absolutely beautiful.  Right below was where patients were initially dropped off.  Sometimes, they had to be forcibly dropped off which was very sad.

We visited Father Damien's St. Philomena Catholic church and found Brother Joseph Dutton's grave site next to it.  He had asked to be buried close by Father Damien.

Our tour guide, Norman told us that only 4-5% of the population is susceptible to Hansen's Disease.  Unfortunately, Father Damien was part of that small minority, and died in 1889 after 16 years at Kalaupapa.  Brother Dutton was able to serve the patients for 44 years without contracting the disease.  My grandfather was there for 8 years and also did not contract Hansen's Disease.  Sadly, the group most susceptible were the Hawaiian people who did not have many of the immunities against diseases foreigners brought in.

Here is my grandfather crouching down next to the man he admired and regarded highly for the work he'd done for the patients for 44 years.

Mom says there was a photo of her father with Brother Dutton that was cherished by the family, but it was lost in their escape during the war.

Brother Dutton died during my grandfather's 2nd or 3rd year at Kalaupapa.

This is the grave yard next to the church.  Father Damien's grave is at the front.

St. Philomena Catholic Church

OK, it's not that I didn't like Lahi Lahi. However, my behind was really protesting getting back in the saddle.  Lahi Lahi on the other hand could not wait to get started.  He was pushing at the ropes to get to the front again... until he remembered that it was going to be UPhill this time.

I almost know the exact moment when he remembered.  Suddenly his steps slowed and he had to be prodded by the mule leaders.  I hated to kick him like they told me to.

 I really sympathized with his plight.  I REALLY don't like climbing UPhill either.  Whereas he pushed to the front of the line when we were going down, he now stopped at almost every switch back.  

When I tried to urge him on, he'd look back at me as if to say, "Are you kidding me?  Couldn't you have lost those 6 pounds before you decided to get on my back?"

Three miles UPhill all the way and Art was still raring to go.  His butt was just fine!

We read that you could mail a coconut anywhere in the U.S. for between $10.00 to $15.00 (postage) so we decided to send one to KC in Chicago.  

The coconut was free.

Can you believe the gas prices on Molokai?

We also found that Molokai has the plastic bag law.  If you plan to go there, bring your own bag.  It was not a problem for us.

And this is where our luck ran out.  Our Island Air flight was 2 hours late!!!  Worse... I had to sit on hard metal seats for 3 hours while we waited.  After a stop on Lanai we finally got to bed around midnight.  

And yes!  Here is Art's trophy t-shirt.  In retrospect, Art says I should have gotten one too.  We also brought back Molokai sweet potato chips and a whole lot of wonderful memories.

And mom?  She's thrilled and could hardly wait to get home and start writing all about it.