In 1974, George Ariyoshi became America's first state governor of Japanese-American ancestry. He held Hawai'i's highest elective office for three terms — making him the state's longest serving governor.
As lieutenant governor he also served two years as acting governor when his predecessor and mentor, Gov. John Burns, became seriously ill — giving Ariyoshi a total of 14 years as head of the state.
The hallmark of Ariyoshi's administration was his ability to maintain stability during major strikes or controversies, such as the scandal in 1983 when the pesticide heptachlor was found in local dairy milk.
In 1984, Ariyoshi averted a potential economic and social crisis when he was able to negotiate a last-minute settlement of a threatened statewide walkout by all public workers.
He will also be remembered as the man who invited deposed Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos to live in exile in Hawai'i in in 1986, which proved to be divisive for the local Filipino community.
The son of Japanese immigrants, Ariyoshi lived with his family in a second-story Chinatown unit right above the tofu shop operated by his father, who was also a well-known part-time sumo wrestler.
Ariyoshi's own personal style was more laid back and cautious. He tried to govern with a style that he referred to as "quiet but effective."
Calling Hawai'i a "fragile treasure," he once said he considered Hawai'i's most pressing problem to be the burdens an increasing population placed on an isolated state with limited land and natural resources.
"Too many people means ... too much erosion of possibly our single most important commodity, the Aloha Spirit," he said.
