Vineyard remembered as Hawai'i's 'Main Street'

By Roy E. Shigemura
Honolulu resident

Vineyard Street was "Main Street, Hawai'i" for me when I was a youngster and a teen. Majority of the time that I left my home on Palama Street, I used that thorough-fare to go to various places.

One such place was either the International (Kokusai) or the Orient (Toyo) Theatre, to enjoy the latest Japanese movies showing there.

I just couldn't wait to see my favorite actors in samurai films: Ichikawa Utaemon, Kataoka Chiezo and Otomo Ryutaro. Of course, if I could afford it, I had to eat saimin at one of the nearby stands.

There were times that I felt like catching fish and crayfish at Kapalama Stream; so I walked with my net and bucket on that familiar street to that waterway. Sometimes, I would get wet and dirty from the mud and splashing around. But, boy, was it fun!

Later, our family moved to Waipa Lane behind the Japanese language school, Palama Gakuen. During my high school days, I walked every day to Farrington High, which was a good distance away from my home. We did not have backpacks that school kids have today, so I dropped my textbooks a few times when I had an overload.

Vineyard Street was a two-lane street then, and there were not as many cars and trucks as there are today. For pedestrians, it was a great way to exercise and take in the different scenes, such as vegetable gardens, mango and Java plum trees here and there, and stores along the way, the mom-and-pop variety.

There were different camps then, such as the Filipino, Japanese, Korean and Puerto Rican and so on. On many occasions, you would see cordial faces of friends, schoolmates and such. We would exchange greetings with "Hi!" or "Howzit?" I felt secure in that neighborhood.

Then, Palama Settlement was nearby and often I would use Vineyard Street to visit the dental clinic, library or play basketball or softball there.

So Vineyard Street played an important part of my life during my early years. That street, now called Vineyard Boulevard, had an impact whether I was walking or riding on it with family members.