MID-PACIFIC BONSAI FOUNDATION

          An IRS tax-exempt non-profit foundation to exhibit, research, educate, promote, and perpetuate the art and culture of bonsai; to be the custodian of memorial bonsai in the Hawaii State Bonsai Repository, to serve as the liaison with the community, and to create international friendships through bonsai.

     c/o Fuku-Bonsai Cultural Center & Hawaii State Bonsai Repository

            PO Box 6000, Kurtistown, Hawaii 96760

ALOHA ISAMU "HAM" KANESHIRO!

      The Fuku-Bonsai Cultural Center entry tree is a Dwarf Schefflera grown on a 6' diameter concrete disc with turntable.The original tree was grown from a cutting planted in our parking lot in 1976. Three sections were dug and assembled as a group by the Fuku-Bonsai staff in 1985 when the corporation was formed.

     The arrangement is named "HUI HANALIKE" which is Hawaiian and translates into "a group working together."  The name is meant to also honor the Big Island Okinawan group that was once named Hui Hanalike and is now known as Hui Okinawa.

     This Japanese Black Pine bonsai is over 100 years old and believed to have been brought to Hawaii aboard a Japanese maritime training vessel. During the hysteria of World War II it was acquired by Soboku Nishihira who hid it in the forest reserve above Hilo.

      It was acquired by the late Haruo "Papa" Kaneshiro in the late 1940's and was donated by his family in 1993 to became part of the Hawaii State Bonsai Repository.

       Isamu "Ham" Kaneshiro with a unique Surinam Cherry for the Hawaii Bonsai Repository Collection.  July 3, 2002

        The Surinam Cherry is heading towards a penjing styling in an Akiji Kataoka hand-formed pot and flat rock to accentuate the thin elegant high-character trunk and shape.

             We live here because we value the  lifestyle,  the warm and generous people ready to help each other, who live frugal, quiet lives and because of the community's old-fashioned integrity values and mutual support.  

"HAM" & TRADITIONAL BIG ISLAND BONSAI!

            An important member of our community  is Isamu "Ham" Kaneshiro, a retired insurance agent that everyone  runs into at just about everywhere.  His nickname "Ham" comes from his ham radio hobby which has made him friends throughout the world.  And perhaps that's why his children are scattered about and why his life has dramatically changed since he lost his wife.

              In Hawaii State, the Big Island probably had the highest per capita number of bonsai growers because of the casual lifestyle and the inspiration of uncluttered natural beauty.  It's still a paradise for those who enjoy collecting trees as the thin soil over rocky lava produce the finest bonsai stock.  Almost everyone knows how to grow seedlings or to root cuttings and these are freely distributed amongst the extended bonsai family. The Big Island is not a place for a professional bonsai grower to get rich!

              One segment of the bonsai community pays homage to traditional bonsai and religiously train tropical trees into the Japanese codified pine tree shapes.  These gatherings allow a local bonsai expert to hold court and in return, the assembled group are treated to refreshments and an opportunity to gather.  Such social activities were once common in the rural plantation towns but have been fading away.  Waimea Bonyu Kai is the Big Island's oldest bonsai club and their name literally translates into the Waimea Friendship Club. While friendship is clearly their priority, their members produce outstanding bonsai! 

               Ham is one of our senior Big Island "village story-tellers" and talks of his brother Jinsei who was amongst the oldest bonsai sensei with a twist.  Rather than follow prescribed Japanese bonsai practices, he wove into his classes a common sense Hawaiian philosophy of life.  He took a traditional bonsai shape and "intentionally-accidentally" broke the "wrong" branch. After giving the audience some time to think about it, he launched into a parable of life message that he had prepared.  "What are you going to do?"  "Accidents happen!"  "What can you do?" And for the rest of the class he answered those questions and created new forms of bonsai.

OKINAWAN HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

                Many Okinawans don't consider themselves Japanese as the Ryukyu Kingdom was already established in the 1100's.  They annually sent to China tributes of sulfur which was mixed with niter and charcoal to create gunpowder. The valuable tributes resulted in   free and favored trade with the internationally dominant Chinese.  Throughout the 15th and 16th century,  "Wako" pirate-mercenaries travelling in groups of more than 20 ships loaded with over 2,000 men and many war horses attacked the coastal villages of China, Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, etc. The Wako were made up of both Japanese and Chinese and although they the entire region was terrorized, Okinawa and Okinawan ships were never attacked.

              In 1609, Okinawa was invaded by the Japanese forces and extracted trade privileges and the northern Okinawan Islands.  In 1872, Japan militarily annexed Okinawa and the Ryukyu Kingdom ended.  China did not recognize the annexation and while tensions continued to build between Japan and China, the status of Okinawa was not clear.

             A short time later in 1900 Okinawans began streaming into Hawaii to provide needed labor for the sugar plantations. At one time, Japanese were vegetarians and looked down upon the "eta" that handled unclean animals.  Okinawan culture is similar to Chinese and both made generous use of pork.  Poorly treated by the Japanese, they worked hard and built an extraordinary mutual assistance society with deep regional and family loyalties that endure.

HAM & THE HAWAIIAN-OKINAWAN COMMUNITY

             Even when I was growing up in the 1940's in Hawaii, there was prejudice against Okinawans. But their food was delicious and a large number of the most popular restaurants in Hawaii are owned and operated by Okinawan families. Okinawans have the longest life expectancy in the world!   Their method of multiple cooking of pork makes it tasty and easy to digest.   Bitter melon has been cited as part of their longevity secret.  But many believe it's due to their positive and cooperative outlook on life. 

               World War II was a tragic time for the Okinawans as they were sacrificed and used as cannon fodder in the Battle of Okinawa.  Over 25% of the entire civilian population of Okinawa were killed or forced to commit suicide. The war ended with surrender after the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Although   historical revisionists claim it was cruel inhumanity, conventional warfare would have taken many more lives if an invasion of the Japanese mainland was necessary. As such, the Japanese mainland was spared the total devastation of Okinawa.

               Hawaii's Okinawan community rallied to send food, money, and old clothes.  After the relief ships ended, there were severe shortages and items were just not available in Okinawa. Items were sent even though postage costs were much more than the cost of the goods being sent.  The Hawaiian Okinawan community sent a shipload of pigs in an effort to help rebuild the agricultural economy and there is a strong bond of friendship between Okinawa and Hawaii.

              It took the relief effort to unite the Hawaiian Okinawan community and soon after, "Hui Hanalike" (Hawaiian for "a group that works together") was formed. The unregistered name had been used for many years, but the name was registered by another group.  The  name was changed to Hui Okinawa.   It's an outstanding group that enjoys wide community support and a reputation for community events with great food!

THE FUKU-BONSAI OKINAWAN CONNECTION

             I had the good fortune of marrying into the Higa and Kiyabu families and without the support and goodwill of the Okinawan community, Fuku-Bonsai would not have began nor survived. Okinawan names are prominent in our company.  Past Hawaii County mayor Herbert Matayoshi and past director Kiyotsugu Oshiro challenged us to create the finest bonsai center and became early stockholders.  Past director Conrad Hokama and Carolyn Oki (wife of current corporate secretary Wallace Oki) are past presidents of Hui Okinawa.  Shizuko Akamine is a member of the Okinawan Cultural Center board and active in Okinawan dance and teaching koto.

             Okinawans have also been the most prominent in Hawaiian bonsai history.  During World War II when bonsai was abandoned, Soboku Nishihira collected them and hid them in the forest reserve above Hilo.  The oldest bonsai came to Hilo as gifts from the Japanese Maritime training ships in the late 1800's and early 1900's before the 1919 Quarantine Act that prohibited Japanese Black Pines and other two-needle pines. Since then, Hawaiian pine bonsai have been mainly grown from seeds. 

            After the war,   Nishihara brought down the trees and opened the first bonsai nursery.  He is widely credited for having the courage to preserve these old trees and many ended up in the legendary Watanabe, Yonehara, Geise, Kansako, and Hirota collections.  His home was also frequently visited by Haruo "Papa" Kaneshiro, then a cook on the inter-island Young Brothers barge. "Papa"  learned bonsai from Nishihira and is affectionately acknowledged as the "The Father of Hawaiian Tropical Bonsai."  He was one of my teachers and Fuku-Bonsai strongly reflects his Okinawan cultural values. 

ALOHA HAM KANESHIRO!

Ham and Mid-Pacific Bonsai Foundation president Michael Imaino at his last visit in which he donated bonsai pots and display stands to the Foundation.  October 7, 2003

            Ham has been a good friend of many years. A year or two ago I suspected that something was brewing when he came over and donated a unique Surinam Cherry bonsai with extraordinary potential.   We talked a lot and I added more detail to my knowledge of the Big Island and Okinawan communities.  The donation of a second Weeping Banyan was his "excuse" to visit again and we had another long talk. As promised he mailed me printed information about Hui Okinawa's history.

            On his latest visit Ham donated empty bonsai pots and a bonsai display stand to the Foundation and informed us that he will be heading for Las Vegas to live with his son.  Ham is healthy and is fortunate to have a wonderful family.  Our community is losing a truly wonderful person and I hope that in writing  parts of his stories that it shares some of the richness that he's shared with us!  We're sad but our loss is Las Vegas' gain.   We hope everyone there will welcome and bring him into the Hawaiian and Okinawan ohanas!

            Aloha and mahalo Ham!    ~~~David W. Fukumoto (November 21, 2003)