TSUNAMIS REMEMBERED:

Oral Histories of Survivors

and Observers in Hawai'i
Volutn.e I
Center for Oral History
Social Science Research Institute
University of Hawai'i at Manoa
April2000
Copyright 2000
Center for Oral History
Social Science Research Institute
University of Hawai'i at Manoa
These are slightly edited transcriptions of interviews conducted by the Center for Oral History,
University of Hawai'i at Minoa. The reader should be aware that an oral history document portrays
information as recalled by the interviewee. Because of the spontaneous nature of this kind of
document, it may contain statements and impressions which are not factual.
People are welcome to utilize, in unpublished works, short excerpts from any of the transcriptions
without obtaining permission as long as proper credit is given to the interviewee, interviewer, and the
Center for Oral History. Permission must be obtained from the Center for Oral History for published
excerpts and extensive use of transcriptions and related materials. Transcripts and cassette tapes may
not be duplicated or reproduced by any party without permission from the Center for Oral History,
Social Science Research Institute, University of Hawai'i at Manoa. 2424 Maile Way, Social Sciences
Building 724, Honolulu, Hawai 'i 96822.
TSUNAMIS REMEMBERED:
Oral Histories of Survivors
and Observers in Hawai'i
Volutne II
Center for Oral History
Social Science Research Institute
University of Hawai'i at Manoa
Aprll2000
Copyright e 2000
Center for Oral History
Social Science Research Institute
University of Hawai'i at Manoa
These are slightly edited transcriptions of interviews conducted by the Center for Oral History,
University of Hawai'i at Minoa. The reader should be aware that an <nl history document portrays
information as recalled by the interviewee. Because of the spontaneous nature of this kind of
document, it may contain statements and impressions which are not facrual.
People are welcome to utilize, in unpublished works, short excerpts from any of the transcriptions
without obtaining permission as long as proper credit is given to the interviewee, interviewer, and the
Center for Oral History. Permission must be obtained from the Center for Oral History for published
excerpts and extensive use of transcriptions and related materials. Transcripts and cassette tapes may
not be duplicated or reproduced by any party without permission from the Center for Oral History,
Social Science Research Institute, University of Hawai'i at Minoa, 2424 Maile Way, Social Sciences
Building 724, Honolulu, Hawai'i 96822.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Volume I
AClrn'OWLEOOMENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v
RESEARCH AND PUBLICATION STAFF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii
PHO'l'OGRAPHS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix
INTRODUC'I'ION ................................................... x:xvii.
TRANSCRIPI'S
Robert Y.S. "Steamy" Chow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Ronald "Square" Goya and May Goya . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Minerva Saiki Hayakawa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
Evelyn Lyn Kagawa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
Riichi Hatada . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
James U.C. :Low . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257
Laura Yuen Chock .................... .. ............. ... ....... 299
Catherine Diama Campainha . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 327
Masao Uchima . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 351
Sadako Suzuki . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 401
June Mitsuko Shigemasa ........................................ 439
Fusae Takaki . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 73
APPENDIX
Chronology .................................................... A-1
Select Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-1
Glossary ...................................................... C-1
Index ...................................................... D-1
iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Volume II
................................................ v
RESEARCH AND PUBLICATION STAFF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii
PHOTOGRAPHS ...................................................... ix .
INTRODUCTION ................................................... x::x:vii
TRANSCRIPrS
Josephine Nelson Todd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 495
Alexander M. Riviera . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 525
Kimiko Kuwana Sakai . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 551
Jeanne Branch Johnston. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 615
Kapua Wall Heuer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 639
Leonore K VanGieson .................... . ..................... 661
Eloise Ahuna Pung . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 681
Masuo Kino . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 711
Bunji Fujimoto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 731
Marsue McGinnis McShane ................. ..................... 763
Herbert S. Nishimoto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 795
Albert L. Stanley ......................... _. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 817
Richard Furtado . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 841
Harold P. Luscomb, Jr. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 877
Hayato Okino . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 911
Violet and Tak.eshi Hirata . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 945
James T. Ohashi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 977
APPENDIX
Chronology .................................................... A-1
Select Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-1
Glossary ...................................................... C-1
Index ...................................................... D-1
ill
Acknowledgments
In addition to the interviewees and their families, we would like to acknowledge the
contributions of the following individuals:
Pacific Tsunami Museum
Walter C. Dudley
Carrie Luke-Knotts
Donna Saiki
Susan G. Tissot
Lucille Chun
May Bradley Cook
Clarence Ferdun
Barbara Fujimoto
Juliette Furtado
Roy Goya
EikoHatada
Naomi Hayakawa
Frank Kanzaki
Kiyoto Kohashi
Wataru Kohashi
Jack I. Miyashiro
Ruth Nakamura
Tom Kiyoshi Nakashima
Glenn Okino
Harold Okino
Kiyoshi Okubo
Josephine Quinones
Christine Nakano Saiki
Susumu Shigemasa
John Stansfield
Chidori Nishimoto Uchima
Mildred Uchima
v
Center for Oral History
Social Science Research Institute
Director and Principal Investigator
Warren S. Nishimoto
Research Coordinator
Michl Kodama-Nishimoto
Research Associate
Holly J. Yamada
Publications Specialist
Cynthia A. Oshiro
Transcript Editor and Indexer
Karen Matsuda
Student Transcribers
Mirasol Budiao
Jona Goong
Randall K. Hironaka
Audrey Kawaoka
Stephanie Kuroda
Karen Matsuda
Lindsay Nishii
Jennifer Yamamoto
Student Assistants
Charmaine Kwong
Keaookalani Mattos
PROJECT STAFF
vii
ix
Top left, Catherine Campainha; top right,
Laura Chock; middle left, Robert Chow;
bottom left, Bunji Fujimoto; bottom right,
Richard Furtado
xi
Top left, May and Ronald Goya; top right, Riichi
Hatada; middle left, Minerva Hayakawa; middle
right, Kapua Heuer; bottom, Violet and Takeshi
Hirata; bottom right, Jeanne Johnston
xiii
Top left, Lyn Kagawa; top right, Masuo
Kino; middle Left, James Low with father's
portrait (William Ing, Hawaii Tribune-Herald
photo); bottom Left, Harold Luscomb;
bottom right, Marsue McShane
XV
Top left, Herbert Nishimoto; top right, James
Ohashi; middle left, Hayato Okino; middle
right, Eloise Pung; bottom left, Alex Riviera;
bottom right, Kimiko Sakai
xvii
Top left, June Shigemasa; top right, Albert
Stanley; middle right, Sadako Suzuki; bottom
left, Fusae Takaki; bottom right, Josephine
Todd
XIX
Above left, Masao Uchima; above right, Lenore Van Gieson. All interviewee photos by COH
unless otherwise noted.
Below left, Kuwahara Store was one of the few structures on the makai side of Kamehameha
Avenue in downtown Hilo to survive the 1946 tsunami. (Pacific Tsunami Museum)
Above, Hatada Bakery rests on top
of a railroad car, Hilo, 1946. (Hatada
family)
Above, Kamehameha Avenue, downtown Hilo, looking south. Hilo Ironworks is in background.
What was once Shinmachi district is the area on the right, 1946. (Rod Mason)
Right, LaupAhoehoe Point,
prior to 1946 tsunami. LaupA
hoehoe School ballfield is in
right foreground. (Masuo
Kino)
Below left, LaupAhoehoe
Point shoreline prior to
receding, 1946. (Bunji
Fujimoto)
Below right, LaupAhoehoe
Point shoreline receding just
prior to arriving tsunami,
1946. (Bunji Fujimoto)
xxi
Left, View from WaHi-
nuenue Avenue toward
Kamehameha Avenue and
the ocean, Hilo, 1946. Note
approaching water engulf-
ing bus. (Pacific Tsunami
Museum)
Below left, Kamehameha
Avenue, Hilo, 1946. (Pa-
cific Tsunami Museum)
Below right, Charles
Mason home, Keaukaha
district, 1946. (VanGieson
family)
XXIU
Below, Damaged teachers' cottages,
Laupahoehoe School, 1946. (Bunji
Fujimoto)
Above left, Laupahoehoe School grounds after 1946 tsunami. Main school building on the right
side was not damaged. The open area is the school's ballfield. (Bunji Fujimoto).
Left, Men await the waves at Suisan Company
fish market, Hilo, 1960. (Pacific Tsunami
Museum/Hawaii Tribune-Herald collection/
Larry Kadooka, photographer)
Below left, The waves collapsed Skippers Cove
Restaurant in Waiakea Town, 1960. (Pacific
Tsunami Museum/Hawaii Tribune-Herald
collection/Larry Kadooka, photographer)
Below right, The tsunami deposited a boulder
in a street in downtown Hilo near the dam-
aged Hobby House, 1960. (Pacific Tsunami
Museum/Hawaii Tribune-Herald collection/
Larry Kadooka, photographer)
XXV
Far left, Parking
meters near Hilo
Theatre were
flattened by the
tsunami, May
1960. (NGDC,
U.S. Army
Corps of Engi-
neers)
Left, Cars were
stacked by the
waves, 1960.
(Pacific Tsunami
Museum/Hawaii
Tribune-Herald
collection/Larry
Kadooka,
photographer)
INTRODUCTION
The Center for Oral History (COH), a unit of the Social Science Research Institute at the University
of Hawai'i at Manoa, was established in 1976. Its major function is to research, conduct, transcribe,
edit, and disseminate oral history interviews with persons possessing knowledge about Hawai'i's past.
COH seeks to provide present and future researchers with first-person, primary-source documents
with which to write history from a diversity of perspectives.
COH also produces educational materials (books, articles, newsletters, brochures, etc.) based on the
interviews, presents lectures on local history, conducts classes and workshops on oral history
methodology for individuals and community/educational groups, and serves as a clearinghouse for
oral history research relating to Hawai'i.
Tsunamis Remembered: Oral Histories of Survivors and Observers in Hawai 'i is a two-volume set
featuring life history interviews with individuals who witnessed and survived tsunamis-particularly
the 1946 and 1960 disasters on the Big Island of Hawai'i. Thirty individuals-mostly residents of Hilo
and Laupahoehoe-recall their experiences before; during, and after the 1946 and 1960 tsunamis
which were arguably the most destructive natural disasters in modem Hawaiian history. Residents lost
loved ones and property or barely escaped death. Oceanfront communities, buildings, and landmarks
were swept off the map. Many businesses were forced to relocate or close down entirely.
"When I came down the street . .. the whole road, everything was covered with
debris. Every square inch was just covered. There was a house in the middle of the
road. It looked like somebody had taken all the furniture out of the house and put it
underneath the house and sat the house down on top of it. And I wanted to go see it,
and they said, 'No, no. Don't go over there.' Well, of course I went anyway, and
there was an arm in the debris. The reason they didn't want us to look was because
there were bodies all over the place, and they didn't want the kids running around . .
. And then we walked over all this debris. It was furniture and sticks and rocks and
huge boulders and kitchen stuff, and people and everything. It was the most amazing
destruction I've ever seen. "
-Jeanne Branch Johnston
" .. . my head just happened to look out towards the ocean . ... When !looked up, I
couldn't believe my eyes because here was this huge, huge wave, nothing that I've
ever seen in my life. It was like a wall ofwater that was rising in the bay and it was
just rolling in towards the building . ... So I turned into the service station to try and
make a U-turn to get out of there . ... By the time I got into that driveway of the gas
station, the water had already reached me and I was still sitting in the car. So I was
neck deep in water and half petrified because I didn't know what to do, you know, I
was in shock . . . and so I sat there for a moment and then I felt the car being
dragged out. It kind of woke me up so I immediately jumped out of the car through the
window ... "
-James tJ .C. Low
xxvii
xxviii
"I didn't know the devastation that it could do really. It didn't dawn on me that the
store was completely wiped out until I went downstairs in the morning. And there was
nothing, not even a stick, not even a button, nothing in the store . ... People were
very, very good. They came to help us; they brought us trucks to haul away whatever
we could. We did find some material underneath all that mud and debris. The trucks
took 'em out to Kolekole . . . and threw the material in at the top of the river and let
it run down and let the water clean it. And then we laid it on the grass, the lawn over
there, stretched out and dried it. And people came in to buy ten cents a yard, twenty-
five cents a yard.
-Evelyn Lyn Kagawa
"I looked out here and saw this great big black wall coming in like this . ... The
noise was terrific, the rolling . ... You've heard high seas and rough weather. Well,
just triple that. And then you heard the screaming. You look and people were
stomping, trying to reach eanh, trying to get out. Dogs swimming around. Then came
the crash . ... Well, it hit buildings, the lighthouse, and the railroad track and
everything. And the roar. And I said, 'Oh, that's good-bye to Hilo. '"
-Kapua Wall Heuer
Background and Methodology
The idea for this oral history project came from a group of Hilo residents who were starting up a
museum dedicated to educating the public about the history and dangers of tsunami in Hawai'i. The
group was composed of tsunami survivors and scientists at the University of Hawai'i at Hilo
researching the physical effects of tsunamis in Hawai'i and other parts of the world. The museum
came to be known as Hilo Tsunami Museum, later Pacific Tsunami Museum. In addition to securing
funds to start and maintain the museum, the group sought photos, artifacts, and first-person accounts,
either written or oral.
The Executive Director of the new museum, Susan Tissot, contacted COH Director Warren
Nishimoto about the possibility of contracting for oral history interviews with thirty survivors and
observers of tsunamis in Hawai'i, with particular emphasis on the 1946 and 1960 tsunamis, which
were the two most devastating in Hawai'i from the standpoint of loss of life and property. Although
these two tsunamis affected most of the Hawaiian Island chain, the Big Island, in particular Hilo and
its surrounding areas, were the hardest hit. To help raise community awareness and increase
knowledge in Hilo about tsunamis, the museum invited Nishimoto to conduct two oral history
methods workshops. These workshops trained several Hilo residents in the techniques of oral history
and served as a starting point for the systematic and community-wide documentation of personal
tsunami experiences.
Beginning in November 1997, Nishimoto researched written sources on tsunamis in Hawai'i. Most
secondary sources on the subject were scientific accounts. James F. Lander, United States Tsunamis,
1690-I988 and Daniel A. Walker, Tsunami Facts provide basic background information on why and
how tsunamis occur. Another valuable source is F.P. Shepard, Gordon A. MacDonald, and Doak C.
Cox, The Tsunami of April 1, 1946, which provides a thorough explanation of the relationship
between earthquakes and tsunamis and links the 1946 disaster in Hawai'i to the movement of the sea
bottom south of Unimak Island off Alaska. The most useful source, Walter C. Dudley and Min Lee,
Tsunami!, presents scientific analyses of tsunamis in Hawai'i and elsewhere in an historical context
and features interview excerpts from survivors. Nishimoto also consulted articles in local dailies,
including the Hilo Tribune-Herald, The Honolulu Adveniser, and Honolulu Star-Bulletin.
xxix
Nishimoto then traveled to Hilo to meet with Robert "Steamy" Chow, a retired Hilo police officer
who witnessed and survived the 1946 and 1960 tsunamis. Chow, a participant in an earlier oral
history workshop and a founding member of the Pacific Tsunami Museum, discussed the project with
Nishimoto, displayed historical photographs of devastated Hilo, and shared a list of potential
interviewees developed in consultation with other longtime Hilo residents. Nishimoto also met with
Tissot, Dudley, and Jeanne Branch Johnston, another founding member of the museum. More names
of possible interviewees were shared. Other names were provided by Hilo community members
contacted by Nishimoto as part of a "snowball" sampling technique. Emphasis was placed on gender,
ethnic, occupational, and geographical diversity. An attempt was made to interview residents who
were impacted on different levels, from onlookers with a clear vantage point of the ocean to those
who suffered the loss of family members. While all interviewees were impacted by either the 1946 or
1960 disasters; some were impacted by both; a few also recalled other less destructive tsunamis on the
Big Island in 1923, 1952, 1957, and 1975. With the exception of James Ohashi's written account of
his experiences as a resident of Kaua'i during the 1946 tsunami, all accounts in these volumes relate
to the Big Island.
Following untaped preliminary interviews, thirty individuals were selected for taping. Selection was
based on the interviewees' depth and breadth of knowledge, their ability to articulate life experiences,
and their willingness to participate as interviewees.
The interviews by COH director Warren Nishimoto and Big Island researcher/interviewer Nancy
Pi'ianaia were conducted at the interviewees' homes on the Big Island or O'ahu between February
1998 and May 1999. Each individual was interviewed in at least one ninety-minute session; most in
two or more sessions. All were interviewed individually, with the exception of Ronald and May
Goya, and Violet and Takeshi Hirata, who were interviewed as couples.
Because interviewees were asked to comment on experiences and incidents oftentimes specific to their
own lives, no set questionnaire was followed. Rather, a holistic, life history approach was taken,
creating biographical case studies centered mainly around interviewees and their communities. The
interviews followed a chronological format, beginning with the interviewee's date of birth, childhood,
neighborhood/community, education, and work, and progressed to recollections of the 1946 and 1960
tsunamis. At that point, interviewees were asked where they were situated as each succeeding wave
hit; who were with them at the time; what they thought, felt, and feared during the ordeal; what they
saw, heard, and smelled that day. The interviews then proceeded to deal with the tsunamis' aftermath:
the community-wide cleanup, damage assessment, identification of bodies, and reclamation of
valuables and other material possessions. Interviews concluded with assessments of the tsunamis'
impact on the community and on their own lives.
The interviews were transcribed almost verbatim by COR-trained student transcribers. The
transcripts, audio-reviewed by the researchers/interviewers to correct omissions and mistranscriptions,
were edited slightly for clarity and historical accuracy.
The transcripts were then sent to interviewees for their review and approval. Interviewees were asked
to verify names and dates and clarify statements where necessary. COH incorporated the interviewees'
changes in the final version.
Prior to publication, interviewees read and signed a legal document allowing the University of
Hawai'i Center for Oral History and the general public scholarly and educational use of the
XXX
transcripts. In addition, each interviewee was apprised of his/her rights as human subjects
participating in a University of Hawai'i-sponsored research project. They understood that participation
in the project was completely voluntary, that they were not required to answer each and every
question, and that they could withdraw from participation at any time.
While not always entirely accurate, the aim of an oral history interview is the creation of a reliable
and valid primary-source historical document. To achieve this objective, the
researchers/interviewers corroborated interviewee statements with available documentation,
selected interviewees carefully, established rapport, listened carefully and with empathy, asked
thoughtful questions, and obtained permission from interviewees to use their real names, rather
than pseudonyms, in this publication.
Instorical Background
Commonly but mistakenly called "tidal waves," tsunamis, or literally in Japanese "great harbor
waves," are sea waves generated by volcanic eruptions, underwater landslides, or seafloor ruptures
associated with earthquakes. Traveling at varying speeds, the ocean-going waves arrive on land as a
series of coastal waves, sometimes seven to ten in all, the largest wave usually somewhere in the
middle of the set. Most common in the Pacific Ocean because of the large number of eruptions,
landslides and earthquakes occurring on the ocean floor, tsunamis have affected Asia, the Pacific
Islands, the West Coast of the United States, and Alaska. The Hawai'i-based International Tsunami
Information Center has calculated that, since 1813, 112 tsunamis have caused 385 deaths in the
Hawaiian Islands alone (The Sunday Star-Bulletin&: Advertiser, September 6, 1992).
In the early morning of April 1, 1946, a massive earthquake occurred in the sea floor of the Aleutian
Trench, ninety miles from Unimak Island in Alaska's Aleutian Islands. Although the earthquake was
recorded on seismographs throughout the world, no one was fully aware that a Pacific-wide tsunami
was generated and heading directly for the Hawaiian Islands, over 2,300 miles away. The first wave
reached Kaua'i at approximately 5:55 A.M., O'abu at 6:30, and the Big Island of Hawai'i just before
7:00 (Dudley and Lee, 1998).
Except for the recession of water from Hilo Bay which exposed several hundred feet of ocean floor,
there was no sign of impending disaster. Many curious onlookers remained at the ocean front, some
venturing onto the exposed coral bottom to pick up flapping fish.
" . . . that particular morning it was a very strange-it must have been sort of a
grayish morning, overcasted sides and stuff like that. I can remember that. And while I
was walking down, I came by Skipper's Cove, by Waiakea Theater. I saw this great
big eel. Not a little eel, big one, look like one snake, eh. But it was coiling and
coiling in the middle of the road, you know. And I seen water over there on the road.
I knew something strange about this. But people was saying, 'Tldal wave! 1ldal wave!
No go school, tidal wave.'
-Alexander Riviera
The waves inundated streets, homes, and storefronts and slammed into wooden two-story buildings along
Kamehameha Avenue in Hilo's bayfront business district, reducing them to splinters. Many of those who
were not killed by the force of the waves or the debris were swept out to sea by receding water. In
addition to much of downtown, the waves destroyed homes in the residential area of Keaukaba, as well
as most of the low-lying, teeming residential area known as Shinmachi just north of the Wailoa River
xxxi
Bridge. The waves destroyed a railroad bridge which spanned the Wailuku River, and cars and tracks of
the Hawaii Consolidated Railway Company, forcing the company out of business.
Meanwhile, to the northwest, waves inundated portions of the agricultural Hamakua Coast. Hakalau
Sugar Company mill was destroyed. At Laupahoehoe Point, waves destroyed teachers' residences and
flooded school grounds, killing twenty-five people, including sixteen students and five teachers of
Laupahoehoe School.
"The wave flipped me over and carried me toward the lava rock wall that rimmed the
school. I recall telling myself, 'Gee, I'm going to die. I'm going to hit head first into
that rock wall and I'm going to die. ' But miraculously part of the wave that preceded
me, smashed into the wall and broke it up. So I went flying through the wall, not
headfirst into a stationary wall, but I was rumbling along, rolling along with all the
rocks . ... All I know is I was under tons of water and I was getting hit by all these
rolling rocks and debris, and I couldn't breathe. I was sixteen but I guess I knew what
mortality meant. "
-Masuo Kino
In all, the 1946 tsunami killed 159 people throughout the islands. Of this total, only 115 bodies were
ever found (Dudley and Lee, 1998). Homes, businesses, roads, railroads, bridges, piers, breakwaters,
fishpond walls, and boats were severely damaged. Property damage .totaled approximately $26 million
(Dudley and Lee, 1998). The hours and days following the disaster were filled with the horrendous
tasks of seeking and identifying bodies, locating valuables and other material possessions,
participating in the massive and time-consuming cleanup effort, and dealing with the hardships of
sudden homelessness and lost livelihoods.
The tragedy of April 1, 1946 led to the establishment of a communications system to transmit reports on
earthquakes and tsunamis in the Pacific. In 1948, the Tsunami Warning System (TWS) was established
by the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey. TWS was in operation during the 1952 and 1957 tsunamis
which struck all the Hawaiian Islands. Unlike 1946, residents were warned well before the actual arrival
of the tsunamis. Although there was considerable damage, no deaths were reported in either wave.
On May 21 and May 22, 1960, a series of earthquakes occurred in southern Chile. On May 22, at
9:38 A.M. Hawaiian Standard Time, the Honolulu Observatory was notified that the earthquakes had
generated a Pacific-wide tsunami. Warnings were sounded several hours prior to the predicted twelve
o'clock midnight arrival of the waves. However, many residents failed to take the warnings seriously.
Not fully understanding the warning system, many who did evacuate during the day returned to their
homes that evening. The town of Hilo was asleep when, at approximately 1:00 A.M., May 23,
tsunami waves struck businesses on Kamehameba Avenue and the heavily-populated residential area
of Waiakea, claiming 61 lives and causing $50 million in property damage (Dudley and Lee, 1998).
[Our building] was demolished. Nothing left. We had a lot of mufflers and pipes. We
had about 300, 400 pipes and mufflers. They were all washed out about 200 feet up the
road. And then the building that we occupied, nothing left. And we had a big safe. Oh,
weighed about 300 pounds. Small, but olden days, the safe is thick, eh? We couldn't
find our safe. And we had lot of things inside there . ... Later on, one guy said, 'Hey,
there's one safe way up down the road, ' about 200 or 300 yards up the road. "
-Hayato Okino
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"Later in the day, we were called in to a meeting in Hilo. The cleanup was going to
be a pretty large operation and there was concern that the state and county just didn't
have the manpower or ihe equipment to do it as quickly as it should have been done.
There were dead animals, dead people, all sons of reasons for getting Hilo cleaned up
as quickly as possible. So the plantations were asked to help . ... These buildings
were all sitting there like jumbled miuchsticks. A regular steam shovel had trouble
picking that up. That's almost like a pile of sugarcane. Heck, we could just put a grab
down there and pick that stuff up. They were also big enough that we could pick up
automobiles. . .. We could harvest those cars that were destroyed in that tsunami . ..
-Harold P. Luscomb
"We couldn't save anything, and when everything was kind of settled, we went to look
at our building . . . nothing we could recognize. . . . The warehouse roof was flat . .
We found some cash that we had there, but nothing else. After the tidal wave, we
thought-/ said, 'Gee, what we going to do?' But my husband, he had a very strong
mind so he said, 'We 'II run the business from our home at 'Ialani Street. ' So the
farmers came and they helped us build-we had a four-car garage, next to that, they
built that building, temporary. And then we had a refrigerator in there . ... Like the
packaged goods, we ran from our downstairs. Everybody helped, my children, our
friends, they came and helped. So that's how we staned all over.
-Sadako Suzuki
Following the 1960 tsunami and massive cleanup effort, government and private efforts were made to
help victims-residents and business owners-relocate as quickly as possible. Lands were made
available by lottery for victims to purchase houselots at low-interest rates. Many businesses relocated
to a newly-developed industrial area. Today, areas near the Hilo bayfront devastated by the tsunami
have been cleared for parks, beaches, a golf course, and greenbelt open space.
Other major tsunamis affecting the islands occurred in 1964 and 1975. The 1964 waves caused
$15,000 damage to Hilo and $52,000 to Kahului, Maui. In 1975, an earthquake off the Big Island
generated 40-foot-high waves that struck the south shore of the island, killing two campers at Halape.
It is widely believed that many lives could have been spared had the public been more informed and
aware of the catastrophic dangers of tsunamis. Prior to the 1946 disaster, no organized warning
system was in place. Because of the widespread loss of life and property in 1946, a territory-wide
warning system was put into place and utilized for the 1952 and 1957 tsunamis. The combination of
this warning system and the still-fresh memory of 1946 was probably the reason no lives were lost.
The successful evasion of disaster in the 1950s may have led to public complacency. Experts believe
many of the 61 people who died on May 23, 1960 could have been saved had they taken tsunami
warnings more seriously.
Presently, strong efforts are being made by the Hilo community to remain vigilant and to educate
residents about the dangers of tsunamis. The Pacific Tsunami Museum opened its doors in 1997 to
serve as both a visitor attraction and educational center. The museum provided the principal funding
for this oral history project.
The Interviewees
The following is a list of individuals interviewed for this oral history project, the years tsunamis
xxxiii
impacted their lives, and their communities in those years:
Catherine Diama Campainha, 1946 and 1960, Downtown Hilo
Laura Yuen Chock, 1946 and 1960, Downtown Hilo
Robert "Steamy" Chow, 1946 and 1960, Downtown Hilo
Bunji Fujimoto, 1946, Laupahoehoe
Richard Furtado, 1946 and 1960, Keaulcaha
*Ronald "Square" and May Toyama Goya, 1946 and 1960, Downtown Hilo
Riichi Hatada, 1946, Shinmachi
Minerva Saiki Hayakawa, 1946 and 1960, Downtown Hilo
Kapua Wall Heuer, 1946, Pukihae Street and Keaukaha
*Takeshi Hirata and Violet Olcino Hirata, 1946, Downtown Hilo
Jeanne Branch Johnston, 1946, Keaukaha
Evelyn Lyn Miyazaki Kagawa, 1960, Downtown Hilo
Masuo Kino, 1946, Laupahoehoe
James U.C. Low, 1946 and 1960, Downtown Hilo
Harold P. Luscomb, 1960, Downtown Hilo and Hamakua Coast
Marsue McGinnis McShane, 1946, Laupahoehoe
Herbert S. Nishimoto, 1946, Laupahoehoe
Hayato Okino, 1923, 1946 and 1960, Downtown Hilo and Waiakea
Eloise Ahuna Pung, 1946, Keaukaha
Alexander M. Riviera, 1946, Waiakea
Kimilco Kuwana Sakai, 1960, Waiikea
June Odachi Shigemasa, 1946 and 1960, Shinmachi and Kimiville
Albert L. Stanley, 1946, Laupahoehoe
Sadako Ishizaki Suzuki, 1960, Waiikea
Fusae Tanaka Takaki, 1946, Shinmachi
Josephine Nelson Todd, 1946 and 1960, Hilo bayfront
Masao Uchima, 1946, Shinmachi
Lenore K. Van Gieson, 1946, Keaukaha
*interviewed as a couple
An essay written by a Kaua'i resident, James T. Ohashi, is also included in these volumes. Ohashi
recounts his experiences living in Nawiliwili on the Garden Island and the damage inflicted by the
1946 tsunami there.
Transcript Usage
These volumes of transcripts include a glossary of all non-English and Hawai'i Creole English (HCE)
words (which are italicized in the transcripts) and a detailed subject/name index.
There is a series of numbers at the beginning of each transcript. This series includes, in order, a
project number, audio cassette number, session number, and year the interview was conducted. For
example, 29-12-1-98 identifies COH project number 29, cassette number 12, recorded interview
session 1, and the year, 1998.
The interviewees read their transcripts and were asked to make any deletions or additions they
considered necessary before releasing them for publication. Interviewee additions/changes are in
parentheses ( ). Minor editing for clarification and historical accuracy was done by the COH staff.
xxxiv
Every attempt was made to not alter the flavor and authenticity of the interviews while editing. COH
staff additions are noted by brackets [ ]. A three-dot ellipsis indicates an interruption; a four-dot
. ellipsis indicates a trail-off by a speaker. Three dashes indicate a false start.
These transcripts represent statements the interviewees wish t.u leave for the public record. After
reviewing and approving publication of the transcripts, the interviewees signed the following
agreement:
In order to preserve and make available the history of Hawai'ifor present
and .future generations, I hereby give and grant to the University of Hawai'i
Center for Oral History as a donation for such scholarly and educational
purposes as the Center Director shall determine, all my rights, title, and
interest to the tapes and edited transcripts of interviews.
In addition, the methodology used in this research project was approved by the University of Hawai'i
Committee on Human Studies Ad Hoc Review Committee. Federal law requires that interviewees be
apprised of their rights as human subjects prior to interviewing.
Transcript Availability
These transcripts are the primary documents presently available for research purposes. The audio
cassettes are in storage and not available for use, unless written permission is obtained from the
Center for Oral History.
Copies of this transcript volume are available at the following locations:
Hawai'i
Hawai'i Public Library (Hilo)
Kailua-Kona Public Library
Kealakekua Community Library
University of Hawai'i at Hilo Library
Kaua'i
Lihu'e Public Library
Kaua'i Community College Library
Lana'i
Lina'i Public and School Library
Maui
Maui Public Library (Wailuku)
Maui Community College Library
Moloka'i
Mololca'i Public Library
O'ahu
Bishop Museum Library
Hawai' i State Library
O'ahu (continued)
Kaimuki Public Library
Kine'ohe Public Library
Pearl City Public Library
Honolulu Community College Library
Kapi'olani Community College Library
Leeward Community College Library
Windward Community College Library
University of Hawai' i at Manoa
Center for Oral History
Ethnic Studies Program
Hamilton Library
University of Hawai'i-West O'ahu Library
Hawai'i State Archives
XXXV
COH publications include:
Transcript collections
Waialua and Hale 'iwa: The People Tell Their Story (1977)
Life Histories of Native Hawaiians (1978)
Remembering Kaka'ako: 1910-1950 (1978)
Waipi 'o: Mtlno Wai (Source of Life) (1978)
The 1924 Filipino Strike on Kaua 'i (1979)
Women Workers in Hawai'i's Pineapple Industry (1979)
Stores and Storekeepers of Ptl'ia and Pu'untnt, Maui (1980)
A Social History of Kona (1981)
Five Life Histories (1983)
Kalihi: Place of Transition (1984)
Waiktkf, 1910-1985: Oral Histories (1985)
Ka Po 'e Kau Lei: An Oral History of Hawai 'i 's Lei Sellers (1986)
Perspectives on Hawai'i's Statehood (1986)
Kt1/oa: An Oral History of a Kaua 'i Community (1988)
Ltlna'i Ranch: The People of Kt1'ele and Ket1muku (1989)
Oral Histories of African Americans (1990)
The State Foundation on Culture and the Arts: An Oral History (1991)
Public Education in Hawai'i: Oral Histories (1991) .
'Ualapu'e, Moloka'i: Oral Histories from the East End (1991)
An Era of Change: Oral Histories of Civilians in World War II Hawai'i (1994)
Hawai'i Political History Documentation Project (1996)
The Qosing of Sugar Plantations: Interviews with Families of Htlm4kua and Ka'a, Hawai'i (1997)
Presidents of the University of Hawai 'i: Harlan Qeveland (1997)
Presidents of the University of Hawai'i: Fujio Matsuda (1998)
Reflections of Ptllama Settlement (1998)
I'i/Brown Family: Oral Histories (1999)
Books
Uchinanchu: A History of 0/dnawans in Hawai'i. Published in cooperation with the United Okinawan
Association (1981)
Hanahana: An Oral History Anthology of Hawai'i's Working People (1984)
Finding Aids
Catalog of Oral History Collections in Hawai'i (1981)
Catalog of the ESOHP Collection, 1976-1984 (1984)
Master Index to the ESOHP Interviews, 1976-1983 (1984)
Other Publications
How To Do Oral History (Second Edition, Revised 1989)
Oral History Recorder newsletter (1984-.)
The staff of the Center for Oral History, Social Science Research Institute, University of Hawai'i at
Manoa, believes that researching, recording, and disseminating the experiences of Hawai'i's people
xxxvi
will stimulate further research and foster a better understanding of our islands' history. COH is
responsible for any errors in representing or interpreting the statements of the interviewees.
Honolulu, Hawai'i
April, 2000