Slain Waikiki shopkeeper a 'mom' to young Japanese

By Walter Wright
Advertiser Staff Writer

Michiko Sakata, the Waikiki shop owner fatally injured in a robbery, was so generous and kind that she was known to many young people as "Mom." But an acquaintance stands charged with her death.

Many young people knew Michiko Sakata as "Mom."

Family friend Hideyuki Sato, a former employee at Sakata's Seawind Challenge store on Royal Hawaiian Avenue, said the victim's husband, Bobby Sakata, had told him Iba was a customer who often bought items at the tiny clothing shop for resale in Japan.

Police responded to a holdup alarm at 1:24 p.m. April 22 and found Iba sitting on Michiko Sakata's back, according to a police affidavit. Officers said they found $8,370 in Iba's rear pants pocket, and that Bobby Sakata later said about $10,000 was missing from his cash box nearby.

Police said Michiko Sakata, 44, was unconscious and not breathing when they arrived. Two officers performed CPR and she resumed breathing, but died three days later at Straub Clinic & Hospital.

Sato said he also was one of the many young Japanese expatriates helped by Michiko Sakata.

"When I first met her, it was as a customer, but I had a green card and she hired me, and I worked in Hawai'i for eight years," Sato said. "Every single day, she would make dinner for me and other young people who came to the shop," he said.

He was in Japan when he heard about the robbery, and returned to help his friends, he said.

Hideyuki Sato returned from Japan to help out as a clerk at Seawind Challenge after his friend, shop owner Michiko Sakata, was killed. Gregory Yamamoto • The Honolulu Advertiser

Another long-time friend, Keiko Nakahara of Tokyo, said news of the robbery came as a shock, especially because of reports that Iba had attacked Sakata.

"She always showed kindness, no matter how hard it was for her," Nakahara said through Sato.

"She would do anything for the friends. She was always taking care of anybody. If somebody asked her, 'Do this for me,' it would never be very long, she would do anything," Nakahara said.

Michiko Sakata had the same reputation among her neighbors on Royal Hawaiian.

"She helped students from Japan, and they would stay at her home if they didn't have someplace to stay," said Brandon Tashima, manager of the ABC Store next door.

"The students used to call her Mom, and she was an awesome lady, very good-natured, who came into my store every day.

"It's a shame that someone so nice had to go that way," he added.

Bobby Sakata left a note for his customers at the shuttered store, thanking them for their expressions of sympathy. He said Michiko was "a cheerful, bright and kind person, but most of all she was very loving and caring friend and wife, and she will surely be missed."

The front of the tiny clothing store, just 38 feet deep and as little as 12 feet wide, was decorated with several bouquets of sympathy, including one from the Bicycle Detail of the Honolulu Police Department, whose officers knew Sakata well.

Born in Tokyo in 1959, Sakata worked in the catering and bento business before coming to Hawai'i in 1988. On Feb. 14 that year, she married Sakata, who had been in business here for many years. She had recently become a U.S. citizen.

She is survived by two brothers, Tetsuro and Takeaki Aoyama.

Funeral services will be held 6 p.m. Saturday at O'ahu Chapel at O'ahu Cemetery, 2126 Nu'uanu Ave.

Reach Walter Wright at wwright@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8054.