Clan to celebrate its Island roots
By James Gonser
Advertiser Urban Honolulu Writer
On Sept. 30, 1902 the SS Peru docked in Honolulu Harbor with a cargo of Japanese immigrants about to begin new lives in Hawai'i.
Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser
The event is a minor footnote in the history of Hawai'i, but has become the major cause of celebration for one local family who are gathering from far and wide to commemorate their ancestors' arrival in the Islands.
William Kodama, second from left, and Doris Masuo Kodama, center, look at family photos with their grandchildren, from left, Janel Cohen, Diane Masuo, Alisha Kodama, 9, and Robi Kodama, 6. The Masuo family — more than 80 of them — will be commemorating the 100th anniversary of their ancestors' arrival in the Islands.
More than 80 descendants and family members of Kosaburo and Tane Masuo will gather at the Hale Koa Hotel exactly 100 years to the day of their arrival to observe the occasion and reconnect with family members coming from Japan and the Mainland.
"They were looking for a new life," said grandson David Masuo, who lives in Alaska. "They wanted to come to Hawai'i, make money and go back home. I want my grandparents to look down upon us and smile. To understand we do respect them and cherish what they have given to us. Without their courage, I wouldn't be here."
Kosaburo and Tane Masuo left two children in Japan when they moved to Hawai'i at the beginning of the last century. (Descendants of those two children will be at the reunion, too.) The couple settled in Lahaina, Maui, where Kosaburo, who once trained to be a Buddhist priest, became a fish peddler, using a horse and cart to take fresh fish to plantation camps.
The couple had 12 children before Kosaburo's death in 1930.
Most of the Japanese migration to Hawai'i took place between 1885 and 1900 as contract laborers for sugar plantations. After Hawai'i was annexed by the United States, the contract labor system was terminated, but the Japanese continued to arrive as "free immigrants" and could work where they wanted.
The first group of 148 Japanese contract workers, mostly recruited from Yokohama, arrived in Hawai'i in 1868. By 1890 the census listed 12,610 Japanese in Hawai'i. Just 10 years later the number had grown to 61,111. In 1920, 42.7 percent of Hawai'i's population was Japanese.
Photo courtesy Masuo family
David Masuo said that while speculating on holding a family reunion several years ago, a cousin suggested the anniversary of their grandparents' arrival as a good time to gather.
Kosaburo Masuo and his wife, Tane, with three of their 12 children, circa 1910. Children, from left: Kikuyo, Tamayo and Jitsuo.
"The next time I came home to Hawai'i, I call the (Immigration and Naturalization Service) to find the actual arrival date and they didn't have it," David said. "My cousin had some paperwork on a delousing form from Yokohama port with the date Sept. 21, 1902."
David searched further and found the ship manifest with the arrival date of the ship the grandparents took in the State Archives.
"A lady had come by and said 'We're closing,' and all of the sudden I hit it," he said. "I said 'My God, I found it.' The whole world stopped. My heart started pounding and I had tears in my eyes. I was thrilled and humbled. That was what started it all."
David contacted three cousins, all about the same age, to reach out to all branches of the family.
"Some people said why don't you have it a day earlier, it's a Sunday," David said. "I said my grandmother didn't come in on the 29th or 28th, she came on the 30th and that's the date we are going to celebrate."
Granddaughter Diane Masuo, a University of Hawai'i researcher, said the event will allow the family to celebrate their past and look ahead to the future.
"The reason why my grandparents came to Hawai'i still remains a reason why parents are sending their kids to private schools, to improve their economic lot," she said. "Kosaburo and Tane's generation had few choices. You make the most money you can and you sacrifice for your kids so they can seek a better life. Well, we are in another century now, maybe it is quality of life we should be looking for now."
Tane lived a long time, raising her family with the help of the older children who pitched in, taking jobs when they were old enough.
Tane died in 1976 at age 95. Her ashes and her husband's were returned to Japan.
Several of the older family members have written recollections of their lives on Maui to share with the family today. The family members have created a photo display and will hold a picnic and other events as well as the big gathering next Monday.
