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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Thursday, May 29, 2003

Hear Mo'ili'ili history during meeting tonight

By James Gonser
Advertiser Urban Honolulu Writer

Mo'ili'ili residents will gather tonight to celebrate the area's rich history and remember the days when baseball was king and you still could eat the fish caught in the Ala Wai Canal.

Mo'ili'ili Oral History Project

• What: Meeting and discussion on the history of Mo'ili'ili

• When: 6 p.m. today

• Where: Kuhio Elementary School, 2759 S. King St.

• Information: 955-1555

The Mo'ili'ili Oral History Project of the Mo'ili'ili Community Center will hold a public meeting at 6 p.m. at Kuhio Elementary School featuring stories from the people who lived them.

Lila Gardner of the community center said 27 families with roots dating as far as the early 1900s have been interviewed for the project, which will culminate in a book about the community. Some of those people will be on hand tonight to discuss their experiences.

"One guy has made a map of the way he remembers Kuhio School in the '20s and '30s," Gardner said. "We have found a family that had a blacksmith shop just down the street. People walked everywhere. Families walked to Waikiki and stopped at springs along the way to drink. They swam in the Ala Wai. It was full of fish, and clean. Not like it is today."

Gardner said the project gives residents the opportunity to not only learn about Mo'ili'ili but also about the importance of oral histories in preserving a sense of community. With Mo'ili'ili on the verge of change, the project takes on added importance.

Paradise for keiki

Ralph Nakamura, 75, was born in Mo'ili'ili and as a child helped out at the Nakamura Brothers service station owned by his father and uncles. He remembers pumping gas into customers' Model-T Fords and said growing up there was a children's paradise.

"We just walked to the Honolulu Stadium," Nakamura said. "All the Mo'ili'ili kids helped sell peanuts and hot dogs. We had the Ala Wai Canal, where we could go fishing, crabbing. We hopped on our bikes and go to Waikiki for swim."

Honolulu Stadium at King and Isenberg streets opened in 1926. It was the premier sports center on O'ahu until, termite-ridden and eclipsed by Aloha Stadium, it was torn down in 1976. Today, Honolulu Stadium Park marks the site.

Recording what the area was like has become even more critical as the University of Hawai'i develops plans to evolve Mo'ili'ili into a "college town" with more amenities for students, and Kamehameha Schools, a major landowner, makes plans for its properties, which are coming off long-term leases.

Gardner said that as the community grows and changes, it is important to remember its roots.

"Even though it is expanding and changing, it is a friendly place," she said. "At the post office, everyone says hello. The elderly people who walk around have always been here. Their families have lived here for generations. There is a real sense of community."

How it began

Mo'ili'ili was a thriving Hawaiian community until the mid-1800s, when it was decimated by smallpox.

Japanese laborers first moved to Mo'ili'ili to work taro patches, rice paddies and the rock quarry where Cooke Field at UH is today. Rock for both 'Iolani Palace and Central Union Church was cut there.

By 1902, the area opened its first Japanese-language school, the second-largest in Hawai'i.

Sojiro Takamura, 83, was 5 years old when his family moved to Mo'ili'ili in 1925. His father built a home for his wife and nine children on Hausten Street and owned the Takamura Tailor Shop across the street.

Takamura said his childhood routine was to attend Kuhio Grammar School until about 2:30 p.m., spend another hour or two at the Japanese-language school and then do chores at home.

One of his typical chores was to start a wood fire to warm bath water in the traditional Japanese furo, or tub.

"Those were the days before the electrical hot water we have today," he said.

When he had the time, Takamura and his friends would play sandlot baseball just like the semiprofessional teams they watched in Honolulu Stadium.

"It was a very strong baseball community. Mo'ili'ili had a team that was in the Honolulu Japanese League," Takamura said. "Players from the regular Mo'ili'ili team would stop by and coach us. Teach us how to play."

Takamura said he would wait outside the stadium with his friends to get a glimpse of professional players such as Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig when they visited Honolulu.

"It was hard getting in," he said. "The 25-cent admission fee was a little too much. We use to stay outside on King Street. When they hit a foul ball, we'd rushed for it and turn it in for 10 or 15 cents, or admission to the field. That is how we got in to see those guys play."