Hawai'i Ways, Hawai'i Days
Looking back on 'good old days'
By Glenn T. Sakai
Special to The Advertiser
Time to reminisce about the past — "good old days."
You remember going to public school? I never knew of anyone who attended a private school as a youth. No fashion statement then, no pagers, cell phones, gangs, computers, bomb threats or teachers' strike.
I remember walking to Royal Elementary School on bare feet or hadashi, wearing a striped polo shirt and jeans. No Hawaiian bracelet, gold jewelry or flashy outfits. We all stood at attention when the flag was raised each morning. Mrs. Miyamoto, my first-grade teacher, insisted on good manners by everyone. No one swore and graffiti were unheard of.
We thought school lunch was delicious: lamb stew, teri chicken and other delectable treats served on a plastic tray. I recall cafeteria duty that was fun. We got to eat extra servings of lunch and taste the special treats that the cafeteria ladies offered to us.
How I disliked attending Japanese school after school. Mom made a denim book bag for all of us that we used to carry our Japanese language books. All the students were required to stand and bow when the sensei (teacher) entered the room. Enough said!
As children, we made our own toys: guava tree branches turned into slingshots, old newspapers transformed into hats, boats or kites. We played with marbles, building our hapapus on the ground. We spent hours practicing our yo-yo tricks on wooden yo-yos without brains.
Tin cans with sticky beans we wore on our feet. Bean bags that Grandma made turned into weapons, but they didn't hurt our enemies. Milk covers, soda water caps, buttons, rubber tires, sticks, clothes pins and just about everything and anything were made into toys.
The boys often climbed the mango trees to taste the rewards for their bravery. Other fruits were available in the neighborhood: vee, guava, mountain apple, plums that stained our clothing, rat tail, tamarind, starfruit and soursap. My grandfather would often take me to the Foster Botanical Garden to sample the more exotic fruits.
I also remember a fresh water pond that my two brothers, Roy and Henry, would fish in. We would often play in the banyan tree, hiding in the many secret crevices. No entrance fees or expensive bentos in those days. We enjoyed a lunch of bread and pork and beans or Vienna sausage.
Kamamalu Park was our haven after school, during the weekends and the summer months. All the kids met there to play basketball and ride the swing. The fire department would shower all the neighborhood kids during the summer with their hoses. A yearly yo-yo contest was also held at the park and "Mr. Duncan" always took the time to carve our initials on every kid's yo-yo.
Directly across the street from the park was Golden Wall Theatre whose patrons were always rewarded with a button of a popular western movie hero: Whip Wilson, Lash Larue, Hopalong Cassidy, Gene Autry, Roy Rogers & Dale Evans, Kit Carson and many more. I remember the Sunday free kids' show at Liliha Theatre, packed with kids from everywhere watching their favorite cartoon or super hero on screen with birthday treats and contests for the lucky ones.
It was a family treat to dine out at Kaneda's, Wo Fat or a saimin stand, especially after a chambara or samurai movie. Every block had a saimin stand or an okazu-ya. Dinners at home were never spent in front of a television set. We all sat on a table eating with a fork, other times with a chawan (rice bowl) and hashi (chop sticks).
Like most people approaching their retirement years, nostalgia plays an important role in my life. If you remember this nostalgic voyage, you probably have lived a long and full life, one filled with happy moments and fun times. Oh, how we long for those "good old days."
Glenn T. Sakai lives in Pearl City and is a frequent contributor to Hawai'i Ways, Hawai'i Days.
