By Mike Leidemann
Advertiser Transportation Writer

Yoshie Tanabe seems like an unlikely crusader.

Don't be fooled, though, by the soft voice and the grandmotherly demeanor. The 71-year-old Tanabe is tenacious. She's in a fight to see justice done, and she's showing no signs of quit.

For months now, Tanabe has been leading a petition campaign to put the name of Tetsuo Harano back above the H-3 Freeway tunnels. The tunnels originally were named for Harano, a former state Highways Division chief, but sometime last year Gov. Ben Cayetano ordered the tunnels renamed to honor one of his political mentors, former Gov. John Burns.

Some people might not see why that's such a big deal. They haven't talked with Tanabe; a few minutes' conversation will put them straight. She can invoke truth, honor and the American way in explaining why she feels so strongly about a dispute many have never heard about.

"It's just a great injustice for one person to be given an honor, then have it unilaterally taken away," Tanabe said. "Mr. Harano didn't do anything wrong. He isn't a criminal. It simply isn't right to have his honor taken away."

So far, she's run into a stone wall. Cayetano, she says, hasn't been entirely forthcoming or consistent in his justification for the name change.

In his original executive memorandum, Cayetano cited three reasons for the name change: finding a tunnel name more "sensitive" to the H-3 area, the inappropriateness of naming a structure after a living figure, and his own desire to honor Burns.

None of that holds much weight with Tanabe. First of all, naming the tunnels for Burns is no more "sensitive" than naming them for Harano. Second, other public structures in Hawai'i are named after living legends, including baseball coach Les Murakami and educator Gladys Brandt. Finally, Burns already has received a great honor: the University of Hawai'i medical school carries his name.

So, Tanabe wrote to the governor, asking him to explain why he changed the name.

"I believe strongly in giving credit where credit is due," Cayetano answered. "I thought it was fitting and proper that John A. Burns — who had been viciously criticized and attacked by those opposed to the H-3 Highway — be given credit for building a highway through the Ko'olaus that virtually everyone now believes is a great idea .... My decision to rename the tunnel stands."

That hardly satisfied Tanabe, who thinks the issue is more about disrespecting Harano and his family than honoring Burns.

"The governor did not answer my questions," she said. "I wrote to him again — no answer as of yet."

So Tanabe fights on.

A retired nurse who worked for more than 25 years in Chicago and often participated in civil rights events there, has received phone calls from more than 90 supporters who have helped collect 8,000 petitions signatures so far.

A doctor at Kuakini Medical Center contributed 1,000 signatures, she said. A woman who heard about the campaign made her own petition and quickly gathered 208 signatures. Another woman has taken the petition campaign to Maui. They hope to have 10,000 names by the end of the year.

The group has found support at the state Legislature, where Republican Rep. Mark Moses has promised he'll introduce a resolution early next year to have the tunnels renamed for Harano. Even though no other lawmaker responded to Tanabe's written request for a stand on the issue, she has vowed to keep after them.

"You know that quote, 'My country, right or wrong'?" she says, conjuring up the orator Carl Schurz, who died in 1900. Most people don't remember the rest of the quote, she says: "When right, to be kept right; when wrong, to be put right."

Tanabe wonders why the governor can't simply honor Burns by naming the freeway after him, and let Harano, who still lives in Kaimuki, have his own honor back.

"I've got faith that the government will ultimately do the right thing," she says. "If we can win this little battle, it will encourage others to stand up for the rights of all the little guys."

Those interested in joining Tanabe's petition campaign can reach her by phone at 677-4785.

Mike Leidemann's Drive Time column runs Tuesdays.